lathe screw help

[Harry Goodwin]

I have a talon plus g3 Nova's and will soon be 80 and trying to save my hands. Any suggestions to threading that wormwood
screw in bowl blanks. Up to now I wrestle then on but need a little help to protect the hands from the 5 Christmas presents Harry

[Jeffrey J Smith]

Harry - I usually just let the lathe do most of the work - on very, very slow speed My Lathe goes down to a little less than 50RPM). Hold it up to the screw, let it get started and most of the way in, then shut it down, engage the spindle lock and tighten up so it's flat to the jaw faces by hand. Please - no lectures on the relative safety issues - but I usually wear a glove when doing anything that may tear up my hands. I've found that my skin is a lot more tender the older I get.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Harry, I quit using a lathe screw once I started using Jerry's Chuck Plate. Better grabbing power, faster to use and doesn't require drilling a hole - which limits your options should you decide to change the orientation of the wood.

Check it out: Chuck Plate (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/content.php?129-Building-a-Chuck-Plate)

[Reed Gray]

I take the bowl blank to the drill press and use a forstner bit that is just under the closed jaw size of my chucks (1 5/8 for my little one, and 2 5/8 for my big chuck). I drill maybe 3/8 inch deep, and expand the chuck into that recess. Tailstock presses it into the headstock. No screw chuck, no face plate or screws. This does not generally work for natural edge bowls. It does require blanks to be at least some what flat.

robo hippy

[Mike Golka]

You have received some good options here but if you want to continue to use the wormscrew look into getting a strap wrench. It will save your hands and give a great deal more leverage. Most are made in such a way that changing the strap to a longer one is easy.

[Michael Mills]

I have quit using the wormwood screw also except a rare occasion or with plates/platters.
I have gone mainly to Nova Pin chuck; just drill a one inch hole with a forstner bit, slip the blank over the jaws and expand. I do use tailstock support but with the jaws an inch into the blank it is pretty safe without the tailstock. Just as easy to use with a natural edge also.
http://www.teknatool.com/products/Chuck_Accessories/Pin.htm
You may have to retighten with green wood but there is little chance of orbiting the item. I believe Nova suggest a max 12" diameter.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I also don't use a wood screw. I start all turnings between centers, and the main reason is so I can "play" with the blank, adjust and center the sapwood/heartwood, adjust to remove or include a knot or defect. Keeps your options open. Once on a screw, you're pretty much set on what you get.

[Harry Goodwin]

thanks you all were awesome. Harry Goodwin

[Thomas Canfield]

You have received some good options here but if you want to continue to use the wormscrew look into getting a strap wrench. It will save your hands and give a great deal more leverage. Most are made in such a way that changing the strap to a longer one is easy.

I bought the pair of strap wrenches from Harbor Freight, and replaced the strap with a leather strap. The larger used a 3/4" x 40" long strap and smaller a 1/2" x 36" strap. The leather usually will grip the wood without any marks, but sometimes on slick smaller diameters a piece of rubber shelf liner is used to get a better grip. My problem is usually removing the piece from the wormscrew, and the strap wrench gets used almost every time. The 40" strap allows using on a 12" bowl, and above that I can usually get enough grab by hand to remove the piece.

[Don Nicholas]

Harry, I as well am old, for bottle stopper blanks, I use a waterpump wrench ( for interior water fixtures) to hold the blank and turning it onto the screw. After turning I hold the stopper with one of those flexible rubber shelf liner pieces.
The wrench will not open for larger blanks. There were two other posts that will work as well.
Don

[robert baccus]

Harry, I use a nova single screw on most pieces. However I CA clue a long life( dogwood) glueblock to my work. This is usually vases or HF.. I use a large channellock wrench to go on or off with a piece grabbing the glueblock. A bonus is you can spray/finish a piece and remove it immeditely and screw on another piece