turning a platter in the gap

[Wes Ramsey]

I've been asked to turn a platter larger than what I can do over the ways on my 12" Delta lathe, but the swing over the gap is 16" which will work. I've done a couple like this, but only one had enough meat left on it to finish turn once it dried. The other ended up a much smaller platter :rolleyes: My chuck is long enough to only allow me about 1/2" thickness so I'm limited to faceplates and jamb chucks.

Anyway, does anyone else use the gap for turning larger-than-standard pieces? What is your process? Any videos you know of to help me get better at this?

[john taliaferro]

try a faceplate with a thin glue block then remove it from faceplate put a soft board on faceplate and tail-stock it up gently and finish bottom leaving a 1" or so stub ,chisel and hand sand . Their is a number of ways to do it .

[robert baccus]

Try chucking a piece of stout wood as big as the chuck. turn down to 3/16" and use that as a glueblock.

[Wes Ramsey]

I think I came up with a decent method last night. The biggest help was discovering that my new planer will plane blanks flat as a pancake...as long as they are no bigger than 14 7/8" wide. My chuck is out since it would only allow me enough room to mount and spin about a 3/4" blank. Glue blocks only add to the thickness so that's out. I have an aluminum faceplate that is about 1/2" thick, and is the only thing in my current arsenal that allows me to mount a thicker blank. I found that I can just squeeze in a 2 1/4" thick blank and get it to screw on. With 8 1" screws I had enough grab to spin the wood safely.

Since my banjo and rest aren't long enough to turn the front and back without re-mounting, I turned the inside/top first and left enough of a tenon in the middle to mount the faceplate so I can finish the bottom. Then I flipped it over and shaped the bottom, leaving enough tenon to screw the faceplate back into later so I can finish the top. When it comes time to finish turn it I'll do it again in the same order. I'll have to dish out the foot to get rid of the screw holes, but this is the best method I could come up with.

While I was turning last night I thought about making a laminated plywood or MDF faceplate with nails to hold the piece (saw the idea here first!), but with recessed 1"x8 nuts epoxied in so it screws onto the shaft BEFORE mounting the blank so I can mount a thicker piece.

I just hope it dries enough so I can finish turn it before Christmas!

[Thom Sturgill]

If you check out Capt Eddie's video on glue blocks (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFzxOrJrMy4) - that might give you an idea.

You should be able to use flat-head machine screws and nuts to attach the glue block to the faceplate allowing easy removal of the glue block from the faceplate. If you leave only a narrow ring for attachment and CA glue as Capt Eddie suggests, a sharp strike will remove the block from the piece with minimal damage. Alternatively, it an be easily turned off since only the edge is glued.

[robert baccus]

The easiest glueblock is a piece turned to the largest dia. the jaws will grab. It can be any reasonable length. This is usually large enough for a glueblock(dia.) Then turn down the face to the length and dia. necessary and glue on the piece. Use a good strong hardwood with the grain parallel to the spindle. Leave at least 1/2" for the face and thick CA glue. The dia. that big chucks hold are large enough are big enough for most projects without any added face. A 2" jaws will hold up to 3.5" of glueblock which is plenty for most turnings. A glueblock does not require a faceplate by definition.

[Thom Sturgill]

A glueblock does not require a faceplate by definition.

The original post was to be able to turn in the gap - a chuck uses up the gap space leaving only about 3/4" available. A faceplate leaves most of the gap available. Faceplate plus 3/4" glue block turned larger than the faceplate diameter would give plenty of bearing surface even if the center is hollowed out 1/4". Flathead machine screws with the nuts on the back side of the faceplate would allow mounting the glue block without needing additional depth lost to wood screws.