Shopsmith Forums

How long a screw do you use to attach a block of wood to the faceplate so you can turn it? I have a block I had bought awhile ago for a different project, but I kind of want to turn it instead.

I have a faceplate (6" I believe) that has a block of wood attached to it, so I could either use double sided tape (not sure if I can get the right kind here or would need to order it), or just use some longer screws. but how far into the wood do you want it to go in?

Thanks

Nathan

My 3"-diameter lathe faceplate has a circle of MDF screwed to it. The 3 faceplate screws go just about all the way through the MDF (which is 3/4" thick). This piece of MDF has served multiple turning projects for me -- each project was epoxied to the MDF and then cut away. In this way I knew I'd never have a lathe-tool cutting into those screws. For my stuff (screwdrivers, coffee-mugs, etc.) this has worked great.

You can also go old school here and use a glue paper joint between your blank and the waste block on the face plate. I have better luck with this method than double sided tape. Use a tailstock to support your turning if using a glueblock or 2 sided tape.

terrydowning wrote: Use a tailstock to support your turning if using a glueblock or 2 sided tape.

How do you do this if planning to turn a bowl or other typical faceplate-turned item?

If you're planning to get into more bowl turning, you might want to consider spending a bunch of money & getting a lathe chuck. Or, the Dec, 2012 issue of Woodworker's Journal has an article on how to make your own Longworth bowl chuck which will do the job for a fraction of one you'd buy.

I just checked on Amazon.com & the Nova Midi chuck like the one I have starts at about $100 plus you'll need a Shopsmith adapter for about $15.

dgale wrote:How do you do this [use tailstock support] if planning to turn a bowl or other typical faceplate-turned item?

No problem with the outer profile of the bowl which should always be done first.

When removing material from the center, leave the center engaged and work between the wall and center creating a pillar in the center of the bowl.

If the bowl is deep enough you can undercut the pillar and part it off. If it is shallow under cut as much as possible then the last step is to disengage the center and remove the center pillar. By now the rotating mass should be sufficiently lowered to minimize the effects of the weaker joint between the waste block and the blank. and the likelihood of catches on the pillar is much lower than the inner wall.

Do you use wood glue for the glue when you do the glue and paper? That seems like it would be a better option for what I am wanting to do. The faceplate I have has a piece of wood mounted to it already. I am thinking that is what the original owner was doing.

The piece of wood I am planning on turning was originally bought for doing a cribbage board that spins. I had picked one up at a 2nd hand store a long time ago. I have made a few of them that I sold. I would like to make myself a nice one. But I think that this piece of wood would be better as a platter maybe. So that is my hope to make. I tried to find a picture of the ones I made, but I can't find it. Will have to look on the other drive later and post a picture.

I will have to find a different piece of wood for making myself a cribbage board. Maybe get a few different ones, glue them up and then turn them so that I have some contrast.

One other question. If I want to turn this piece into a platter, is it better to mount it on the one side to turn the bottom, and then flip it over and turn the top of the platter?

Also, would the Easy Wood Turner work for making the platter? I had read on one of the other posts about a turning not to use the tools from shopsmith for turning bowls as they can catch. But would teh EWT catch too, or would that be okay?

Nathan

http://www.shopsmith.com/academy/lathet ... #faceplate

Here is the link to the online version of PTWWFE. Hopefully, the link should go to the mounting with Kraft paper (i.e. grocery bags). It is under the faceplate section.

stickthrower wrote:How long a screw do you use to attach a block of wood to the faceplate so you can turn it? I have a block I had bought awhile ago for a different project, but I kind of want to turn it instead.

I have a faceplate (6" I believe) that has a block of wood attached to it, so I could either use double sided tape (not sure if I can get the right kind here or would need to order it), or just use some longer screws. but how far into the wood do you want it to go in?

Thanks

Nathan

I'm new at faceplate turning but on my first project I used 1" screws in my 3 inch faceplate. I suspect I could have gotten away with a 3/4" screw with no problem. I will be trying the gluing method next time to see how that works out. I like the idea of not having holes in the bottom of the work, or worrying about hitting the screws while working in the inside of the work.

stickthrower wrote:Do you use wood glue for the glue when you do the glue and paper? That seems like it would be a better option for what I am wanting to do. The faceplate I have has a piece of wood mounted to it already. I am thinking that is what the original owner was doing.

The piece of wood I am planning on turning was originally bought for doing a cribbage board that spins. I had picked one up at a 2nd hand store a long time ago. I have made a few of them that I sold. I would like to make myself a nice one. But I think that this piece of wood would be better as a platter maybe. So that is my hope to make. I tried to find a picture of the ones I made, but I can't find it. Will have to look on the other drive later and post a picture.

I will have to find a different piece of wood for making myself a cribbage board. Maybe get a few different ones, glue them up and then turn them so that I have some contrast.

One other question. If I want to turn this piece into a platter, is it better to mount it on the one side to turn the bottom, and then flip it over and turn the top of the platter?

Also, would the Easy Wood Turner work for making the platter? I had read on one of the other posts about a turning not to use the tools from shopsmith for turning bowls as they can catch. But would teh EWT catch too, or would that be okay?

Nathan

yes standard wood glue yellow or white is good.

I have not used a carbide tool so can't say for the EWT. The round nose scraper ca be used inside of bowls.