Material to use on a screw chuck.

[Bill Wyko]

Now that I have a screw chuck I like and feel safe using, I'm planning on doing things a little differently when it comes to segmenting. I want to screw it to a round piece of wood then glue the rings to that. I plan on doing a plate on the top and bottom and building it in 1/2's. Since I never used a screw chuch or a face plate in the past, I was wondering what kind of wood should I use. Is MDF ok or should I use something stronger. I have stacks of round pieces of MDF from woofer box builds and they have a 1/8" hole in the middle from the router circle cutter. Fortunately segmenting is usually pretty balanced so I shouldn't have too much of a vibration problem which could break MDF.

[Harvey Ghesser]

Can't think of any reasons why you can't use mdf, Bill. Though you might want to drip some cyanoacrylate into the required hole you have to drill.

[Thomas Canfield]

You did not mention the diameter of plate that you will be using. I would think that a larger diameter would be safer in MDF than a small diameter and that is based on the side force applied and possibility of having the weaker glue joint fail on a smaller diameter. I don't have any experience with segmented work (too lazy to glue up all the pieces) but it would seem that there is some chatter when starting the turning to get the segments corners cut off and a "round" piece to rub a bevel.

[Steve Mawson]

I don't think I would use MDF, may work fine as I don't have any experience with it but I have seen it break pretty easy in other applications.

[Wally Dickerman]

Bill, MDF is definitely a no no with a screw chuck. A good catch and will simply rip right off the threads. Been there done that. Plywood is also not good. Plys might separate. I've used glue blocks and screw chucks a lot and my choice is 1 inch alder. Alder is soft so it works well. Alder just about never warps so it's always true and flat for a glue joint. You can find unplaned 1 inch alder at Woodworkers Source in Tucson. Not expensive when you consider how many 3.5 inch glue blocks you can get out of say a 4 ft. x 7 inch board.

[David E Keller]

I'd pass on the MDF for the reasons Wally mentioned... With the time you have invested in your pieces, I'd hate to see a mishap just because the MDF failed. Mesquite would be a reasonable choice I would think given your location... I use soft maple or walnut since I have it in hand.

[Dennis Ford]

I do a little bit of flat work, so always use scrap hardwood for glue blocks. Most of the time it is oak.

[Harvey Ghesser]

I wouldn't use MDF, Bill. If I were you, I'd use 1" alder.:D:D

[Chris Studley]

Since I dont yet have a proper Chuck, I have spent some time using screw chucks and faceplates.

Soft maple is my preference. Availability, price are the primary reasons. I've used the paper bag method to get the piece of the glue block w/ some succes

When I first got my lathe I set up a piece of MDF with sandpaper for a quick and dirty disc sander. Even that was enough force for the screw to tear out to hole after a little time.

[Bill Wyko]

Thanks guys, I guess I'll have to figure out something else to do with the stacks of rounds I have laying around. I've seen them used by Malcolm Tibbetts as a captive chuck of sort as a ring to bolt down the top 1/2 of a vessel. I'll get some Alder as you recommend Wally & Harvey. Thanks again.