What good are these faceplates?

I am about to turn my first bowl on my new lathe. Well, as soon as I figure out how to use the faceplates.

The faceplates I am used to are 3" diameter aluminum with 4 small holes for screws. These are 4" and 8" diameter steel, with huge slots in them. I will have to use washer to hold screws, and that can't be right.

So how does one use these faceplates, and why are they better than the 3" ones?

Thanks.

Reply to
Toller
Loading thread data ...

My experience only, as they say, your mileage may vary.

The smaller faceplates are used for smaller work, and usually on smaller lathes. Frequently the smaller faceplates are used where you have a nice flat spot to accommodate the face of the plate. A three inch faceplate will hold a piece of wood that is fairly out of balance well.

But the more secured surface you can get on a faceplate is always best. So larger faceplates that will use larger screws (the large ones will take a nice sized lag bolt) and thus hold a piece more securely.

I have found that a 3" faceplate works nicely on my Jet mini as it only has a 10" swing. But I know there is a large group that likes the security of a faceplate hold when turning rough, and the bigger the better. I have a friend that uses a 6" on his Nova 3000 all the time. He puts the faceplate where he wants it on the piece, takes out his cordless and drills pilot holes where he wants.

He uses small lags with washers to secure and will confidently spin large out of round pieces until he gets them where he wants them, then he will cut a tenon for his scroll chuck.

As far as the slots in the faceplate go, these are used to help you have options on your attachment points. I wouldn't get too wild about getting the large screws out of alignment with each other as they can contribute to an out of balance piece themselves.

Robert

Reply to
nailshooter41

Larger size for better load spread, of course.

If you're going to do green or rough wood, I suggest you take advantage of your drillpress to make the flat area for attachment. Wedge, brace, or lightly screw the bowl to be to a piece of plywood that you can slide around under a Forstner bit, and use your depth stop to get a good surface. Use the big ones for the large face, small ones for the smaller.

Sheet metal screws will give you a good coarse thread if you don't want to go to lags. They can be used with washers if the gaps are that large, but I'd go with large screws, maybe a bit shorter, rather than small gage. Be sure and drill for the screws, and maybe cut a touch below the surface with a chisel or gouge to compensate for the wood the screws will wedge upward into the plate for firm mounting.

Small one should do for the reverse mount. Most people end up with a chuck so they don't have to fuss with the faceplate at the other end. I use a pin chuck for roughing rather than a faceplate, because it does well at the task, and by leaving the hole in the drying piece, I can get an easy re-center after the warp down.

Reply to
George

All woodturners in the Long Island, NY, area (and beyond) are cordially invited to attend our Open House on Saturday, June 16.

EXOTIC WOOD GROUP

OPEN HOUSE SALE

A Rare Opportunity to:

  • Hand-Select Exotic Woods in Person

  • Discover High-Quality Woods From Around the World

  • Save Money: 10% Discount on Our Entire Inventory!

  • Make Special Requests for Custom Sizes

Saturday, June 16, 2007 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

192 Laurel Road East Northport, NY 11731

Driving directions are below. Check us out online at

formatting link

DIRECTIONS TO THE EXOTIC WOOD GROUP SHOWROOM FROM THE MIDTOWN TUNNEL, NEW YORK CITY:

1) Take I-495 East/Long Island Expressway (stay on for about 25 miles) 2) Take Exit 42 to merge onto Northern State Parkway East toward Hauppauge (stay on for about 11 miles) 3) Take Exit 42N (Deer Park Road) toward Northport (stay on for about 0.1 miles) 4) Bear right onto East Deer Park Road (stay on for about 1 mile) 5) Merge onto East Jericho Turnpike/Route 25 (stay on for about 3 miles) 6) Turn left at Larkfield Road (stay on for about 3 miles) 7) Cross over LIRR tracks and bear left at fork onto Laurel Road (stay on for about 0.5 miles; you'll pass by a cemetery) 8) Turn right at the Laurel Shopping Center at 192 Laurel Road 9) Park anywhere in the parking lot. We're located down the ramp at the very end of the parking lot (underneath the Northport Dance studio).

begin 666 clip_image002.gif M1TE&.#EA$ `0`'

Reply to
Exotic Wood Group

Hi Toller

By your description of your face plates, I think you have metal turning lathe faceplates, where fastening is done with bolts and hooks etc., or for the tail of a bend lathe dog that will go in a slot etc. I have a couple of larger wood faceplates, but only use those for larger than two feet D turnings. For regular turning to say 17-18"D I use a 4" faceplate. You can use the ones you have or maybe trade in for wood turning ones, but if you want to keep and use them, I would suggest you drill some holes for wood screws to go through, counter sink the holes a little on the face side, so the wood has a place to go when you drive a screw in. Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

Reply to
l.vanderloo

what leo said. I've turned over 30 inches, with blanks pushing 100 pounds using a 3 or 4 inch faceplate, no problems, but I do support the other end with my tailstock while roughing, otherwise it can get dicey if you shear a couple of lag bolts off.

oh, by the way, you can find inexpensive wood turning faceplates via my web page,

formatting link
- if those other faceplates have threads I can use, I'd be happy to trade (I need 2 1/4X 8 threads)

Reply to
William Noble

Those are metalworking faceplates. The slots are for bolts so the part can be adjusted.

Reply to
CW

CW wrote that "The slots are for bolts so the part can be adjusted".

***********************************************

The slots could also be for lathe 'dogs' to keep metal work held between centers from slipping. The dogs are basically a clamp fastened around the work with a right angled tail that fits in the slot and acts as a drive. The concept never caught on for woodturning although AMT tried to sell them to woodturners at one time. They were more dangerous than three jaw machinist chucks and just as inefficient.

As CW suggested, later you might want to sharpen the tips of the bolts to act as a large threaded-on spur drive, even as an eccentric drive. Maybe not. :) Whatever, they are probably heavy and good quality.

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

formatting link

Reply to
Arch

InspirePoint website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.