Splated Wood=Weak Tennon=Grrrrr!

[Charles McKinley]

Hi All,

I was turining the tennon off of a spalted Maple bowl I made for my parents tonight. I was using the jam chuck as shown in Bill's video. I thought it was still plenty thick when it snapped! bit of a gouge when the bottom hit the tool rest and a small dent in the side. :eek:

Then last minute rush and I can't find the paste wax! :mad:

Well I'm trying BLO and and a homemade buff.

Pics tomorrow.

[Don Henthorn Smithville, TX]

Sometimes a glue block is much better than a chuck. I never use a chuck, I just have a bunch of threaded wooden nuts that fit the lathe's spindle and I glue these to blocks of wood and then glue the projects to the blocks. By having a number of these I can keep a bunch of projects going at the same time and not have to worry about rechucking.

[Joe Melton]

That's interesting, Don. Where do you get the wooden nuts and what glue do you use?

Joe

[Don Henthorn Smithville, TX]

Joe, I bought a discontinued 1" X 8 tap from Grizzly for under $10.00 and I make my own nuts. It is pretty fast and simple. I use white glue or yellow glue; doesn't really make much difference. One could use instant glue or epoxy as well. I much prefer this to a chuck. With the glue block there are no restrictions in turning the base since you can turn the glue block to fit in with what you are trying to do on the base.

[Charles McKinley]

Hi Don,

What size do you make your glue block? How deep do you make the nuts? How do you keep everything centered?

Thank you,

[Don Henthorn Smithville, TX]

I make the nuts thick enough that the spindle will not bottom out on the glue block. I drill a 7/8 hole through the center of a round piece of wood about 2 1/2 " in diameter and tap it out. Then I counter bore about a 1/4" on one side to take care of the small part of the spindle that doesn't have threads. I put that on the lathe and turn the nut round. The glue block can be any size you want. I will often cut a 3 1/2" length from a 2" X 4" and glue the nut to that. Then I put it on the lathe and turn it to size for the project, or I may just go ahead and glue the project to the glue block and turn away anything that gets in the way as I turn the project. It is pretty flexible and I can keep enough projects going that I always have something to turn while I am waiting for finish or glue to dry. Works for me.

[Charles McKinley]

Thank you for the information Don.

[Robert Ducharme]

For us turning impaired, how about a picture - what is a glue block :confused:

[Don Henthorn Smithville, TX]

Robert, go to my reply of 12-28-2004, 8:13 p.m. and you will find a picture there. If you don't find it email me and I will send it to you.