12" Cherry Plate

[Bruce Jones]

Well I'm on a plate jag right now I think these will sell and there fun to turn; this one is finished like most of my items for food w/ Tung oil & carnauba Trewax.
I thought I would give you guys & gals a different background this time.

Bruce

[Adam Petersen]

Very nice. Your plate jag has inspired me to try a few out myself. The wood and plate are a very nice combination.

[Bruce Jones]

Very nice. Your plate jag has inspired me to try a few out myself. The wood and plate are a very nice combination.Oh that's great they really aren't that hard to make I found it easier when you glue on a scrap plug for the chuck jaws to bite hold of then just cut it off when done; this way you can loose the foot, good luck hope to see your project here.

Bruce

[Adam Petersen]

That's good information. I've never glued a scrap block before and was trying to figure out how I'd hold the piece without wasting a bunch of wood. I've heard some people put paper between the wood too when gluing to help separate it, is that something you recommend or just glue it then saw it?

[John K Jordan]

I've heard some people put paper between the wood too when gluing to help separate it, is that something you recommend or just glue it then saw it?

I do this several ways.

With paper, you can usually knock off the glue block without damage, then sand the bottom by hand.

Double-sided tape works well to hold things like this on a steel faceplate. It will hold far better than you might imagine, in fact it is sometimes difficult to remove, but always possible. I use only the quality stuff. Woodcraft sells some - not cheap but worth it. I know a guy who uses tape to hold big chunks of wood for bowls.

With a vacuum chuck the bottom can be turned off easily.

A friction "chuck" where the work is squeezed by the tailstock against a faceplate with a piece of rubber or something between it and the work will let you turn down the waste block except for a little bit in the middle that you can trim and flatten by hand.

If the bowl/platter/plate is not too large I prefer holding it in Cole jaws or equivalent to cleanly finish and decorate the back.

If larger, I prefer to turn a solid place to grab with a chuck in the base. Depending on the result I want, I turn either a recess and grip with expanding jaws, or turn a shallow tenon and grip with jaws in compression. If you are careful and make the tenon or recess almost exactly the size of the the chuck jaws in the closed position you can grip it without making jaw marks. This way allows for much for flexibility since you turn the base completely and enhance it as desired, then flip it over and hold it with the chuck to do the inside/top. This is the way I do almost all such things these days.

Some examples. The first one uses a very shallow tenon to hold the platter. This platter is about 16" in diameter I think. Sapele. What looks like a shallow dome in the middle is actually the tenon - it's hard to believe but it held fine for turning the 16" platter.

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The second two use a recess with an expanding chuck. The first one is fairly small, only about 9" across, cherry. The last one is sapele, 18" in diameter. It is actually shallower than it looks in this picture.

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(The smaller one in the second picture is the same design but much smaller, just 14".)

This way does take a thicker piece of wood, usually 1.5" or so. If starting with 3/4"-1" I would use the double-sided tape to hold the front to a faceplate (if it is flat, of course) and turn away the block.

JKJ

[Adam Petersen]

Cool, I appreciate the tips. Didn't mean to hijack the thread!

[David C. Roseman]

Bruce, your plate is very nicely done.

[Bruce Jones]

Thank you Adam, John and David..No worries Adam I haven't tried the paper method yet; this one I screw the face plate on w/ 1/2" screws shaped the bottom & left a 3/16" tenon, then flipped it around and shaped the top, I then just sanded off the tenon w/ a disc sander.
There many ways to do things - some better than others some faster & easier my advice is to just try different things until you find what works for you.

John Very nice work on your plates; and thanks for all the information.

Bruce

[Alan Heffernan]

Beautiful plate, love the quilting and how you got it to show so well.

[Rich Aldrich]

Very nice platter. I suspect that this will darken over time. I used tung oil on my cherry kitchen cabinets and they have darkened a lot over time. What is the overall height?

[Bruce Jones]

Very nice platter. I suspect that this will darken over time. I used tung oil on my cherry kitchen cabinets and they have darkened a lot over time. What is the overall height?Thank you Alan and Rich Yes it will darken over time from the sun light; it finished at 3/4" tall.

Bruce

[John K Jordan]

John Very nice work on your plates; and thanks for all the information.

thank you, I just realized this did look like a thread hijack! Sorry. I started with a comment on the paper and got carried away! I do love the plate you did and the wood is simply spectacular. Keeping it out of the light when not in use might slow darkening, although with that figure darker would also probably look spectacular.

BTW, The only problem I'd had with thin plates on a wide supporting ring is if they warp a little with the seasons they may wobble a bit on a flat table. I dont know if you have ever tried this but if it gets to be a problem one way to fix it is to remove a very little bit of wood from the supporting ring so to leave three supporting segments, kind of like three wide feet. Then it will always sit without rocking. This can be done carefully by hand or while on the lathe with a small router or rotary tool held securely some way and the work turned by hand. To do it later, a router could be supported over a work table and the plate slid under to remove a very small amount of wood from the three areas, but I would probably use a flat file.

I don't know any one using paper to glue on waste blocks now but it was a very popular way to work before other ways to hold things were available or thought of. Usually a smart smack with a hammer would remove the block from the work.

The problem I have with the glue block method is how to turn the base so it looks good. When the block is removed you are left with a flat surface. Besides the other ways mentioned to hold the front to turn the base (tape, Cole jaws, etc), I have seen people carve the bottom by hand or use a sanding disk to form a shallow hollow.

If the wood blank is very heavy (I'm about to try my first cowboy hat and will use a big faceplate) I start all bowls and platters using a screw chuck with a single screw. This works amazingly well and requires only one hole drilled into the center of the dished/inside if the blank. The screw doesn't even need to be long - even 1/2" of holding with a screw designed for this will work for most things. This method was even used for the platter with the multi-axis base where three holes each supported the 16" blank for wild off-axis turning! (a Frank Penta method). The base and bottom is turned completely leaving some way to hold in the chuck, then reverses and completed.

Oops, there I go again, writing too much. Sorry!

JKJ