Platter??

[Deane Allinson]

I snagged the end cut of a wide board at work. It's only 1" thick but it 27" wide. Might make a platter, I'm still trying to make up my mind on what to do with it. It's Africa Mahogany. Deane

[Brian Kent]

Looks like fun, Deanne. How would you mount a platter that wide and thin on the lathe?

[Deane Allinson]

I use a glue block. It's not that heavy since it's so thin.

[robert baccus]

Nice wood and mounting choice. Is that a solid or lam. piece of Mahogany.

[Deane Allinson]

It is a solid. It was the widest one in the bundle.

[Steve Vaughan]

That will make a beautiful platter! Glue block should work fine.

[Robert Henrickson]

Glue block. Though I've done platters up to 16" out of 1" thickness with a tenon cut into the bottom (less than 1/8" is enough). But at 27", definitely use a glue block and work in from the rim in small increments, pretty much finishing each as you go. I know from experience that by the time I got perhaps 4-5" in on 16", the rim was beginning to go out of true. You can't go back very far.

[Greg Just]

Looking forward to seeing the finished platter.

[Thomas Canfield]

Nice snag. What diameter are you planning to do? Have you got a different lathe lately? I keep looking for a 30 - 32" piece to do an outboard one time on my Powermatic just to say I did.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Looking forward to seeing the finished platter! Would be great if we could see a few in-progress photos while turning it! Have fun!

[Reed Gray]

I prefer platter blanks a bit thicker. By the time you true up the bottom and top, you will probably be down to 3/4 inch thick, especially on a piece that size. The flat work side of me says make a table top out of it. Sacrilege I know, but.... If it is quarter sawn, it will be more stable. If rift or flat sawn, there can be movement problems.

robo hippy

[Deane Allinson]

The flat work side of me says make a table top out of it. Sacrilege I know, but....

robo hippy

I have 20 times more flat work experience than turning, but I have way too many tables already (my weakness). I'm leaning toward leaving it sq. on the out side and dishing out the center, and getting artsy on the rest. I may wienie out once I start it up since I can only get down to 360 RPMs, we'll see. I'll use the old Delta at work it's anchored to the concrete floor.

[kevin nee]

Hello, I make a lot of large platters. I only go to 20 inch, but am working on an outboard turning stand. I often use the 1 to 1.61 rule on the top to base rule. I make my waste block out of doubled up 3/4 plywood. That way I can use nice long screws. I also make my waste blocks large nearly as large as the foot. The largest faceplate that I have is 6 inch. I think the large waste block gives stability. Good luck with your project!

[Brian Finney]

Deane,

Could try a bowl from a board. Golden Triangle Woodturners have a useful demo video http://www.goldentrianglewoodturners.org/GTW/DEMO_VIDEOS.html. GTW do it with two boards, but you can do it with one board, but it restricts your depth of bowl to get a decent shape.

Brian