A work-holding question

To hold the workpiece to turn the backside, make a wooden chuck that has six 'fingers' that grasp the checker. They should each have a shoulder so the checker drops in straight and its two faces parallel. To apply clamping force, you have two ways that I can see.

First, use a hose clamp to compress the fingers.

Second, turn the OD of the fingers with a slight taper, then force a metal ring onto the taper, applying the clamping force.

Dan

Cut a hole in a wood blank or bit of hardboard a little thinner than the thickness of the checker piece and tight enough for a jam fit. Take it to your disk/belt sander and sand until you reach the board. Mounting the blank to a jig that rides in the sanding table's miter slot is even better but not absolutely necessary if you're careful. Result is a nice flat finished checker and undamaged fingertips.

You could also try a jam fit on a scrap block mounted to the headstock and face/finish/polish it that way.

J.

Steve Bak wrote:

"Steve Bak" wrote: (clip) Any suggestions will be most welcome.

I am guessing a vacuum chuck would be too much to ask, but it would be an excellent means. Dan's suggestion of a wooden finger chuck, and a hose clamp is just as good, and a heckuvalot cheaper. Watch your fingers, though, or the end of the hose clamp will take off flesh. The doctor bill could easily exceed the cost of a chuck.

The way I have done something similar was to mount a round block the diameter of the faceplate onto a faceplate with screws. The block should be about 1/2 inch thicker than the depth of the screws. Then turn the shoulder off the block leaving a raised center about the diameter of the pieces you are finishing. Using double sided tape (you can use foam mounting tape but I like Lee Valley's turning tape better because it will peel back off better) and put a piece across the finished face of the piece and stick it to the raised center of the block. Then finish away. If you use light cuts and a sharp tool you can turn symmetrical rings in the surface, sand and finish while it is on the "chuck".

The key is getting it centered when sticking it on. I Made my pieces oversize and turned them to the correct diameter while on the glue block, that way they were symmetrical to the center of the lathe.

I have done just this, very simply, with a jam-fit chuck. It's much the same as finishing off the bottom of a very small bowl... but I would guess that not many of us have made these wonderfully simple holding tools, what with the ubiquitous 4-jaw chucks we have available now.

Mount a chunk of scrap wood (softwood is better than hard), about twice the diameter and thickness of your disks to a faceplate (or screw chuck) by whatever means you are comfortable with (hot glue, screws, etc.). Cut/scrape a slightly tapered recess until it is about 1/2 to 3/4 the depth of the disk, then tap the disc straight into the recess. Use light cuts and gently sand the rough face. Tap on the edge of the disk and it pops out, and you are ready for the next one.

Using this technique, I have finished the rough sides of an entire set of checkers (32 in all) in about an hour. A little practice is all it takes...

Michael Latcha - at home in Redford, MI

Steve Michael has described to a "tee" the old way of doing it. In my mind it is still one of the best and fastest. If I was making fifty sets or for that matter, even five, I would make a set of wood jaws for my One Way chuck specially to hold them. For one or two sets it is not worth it. Just chuck up some scrap pine and make a jam chuck.

Hi Steve

Lots of good advice here, just to show you there are more than Oneway to skin a cat (pun intended)

I have used most of those ideas one time or another, my first ever time, I did all you did, till having them parted off, then hand sanded the bottom, (A lot of work) still have and use those 24 coasters.

Last time I used my flat jaws from my Talon chuck, laid the chuck with jaws installed on a piece of board, ( piece of 6"board) jaws just slightly apart, screwed the wood to the flat jaws, sawed the wood into

Just another way of doing it, and a good excuse for a set of flat jaws if you don't have them already, :-)))

The flat jaws are a good and handy way to make larger and smaller soft jaws to hold things without damaging them.

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

Steve Bak wrote:

If you just want flat faces, (I'm not sure if you mean turned detail or carved details on the faces) My inclination would be to turn the cylinder on the lathe, and then use a miter saw with a good finishing blade and a stop to cut them off. A slow feed rate when cutting will leave a very good face, and you can finish polishing them by drilling or boring a 1.5" hole in a piece of hardboard or 1/8" plywood and using that to hold them while you sand with a random orbital sander.

Though I do like that 6-jaw wooden chuck suggestion as well- that's a slick idea.

Steve here's another one. as I now see you don,t have a chuck, I use this one myself also, in my chuck but you can use it on a faceplate also. Take piece of board that will fit your faceplate, saw a slit from one corner to the center of the wood (if you have a rectangular piece of board), drill a hole for a screw to fit through, so that you can install a screw and by tightening, close-up the saw cut some. Now when you screw this board to the faceplate, leave the one side where the screws head is loose enough that this part is able to move, the other half should be tight, now make a hole that fits your checkers just, and only so deep that you now can finish the other side of them, after tightening the screw.

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo