Faceplate Scew size/length

[Bruce Wilson]

OK, I'm new to this. Tried my first bowl last night from a round blank about 4" wide by 2" tall. Read the directions of my new OneWay Tallon chuck and thought they said to drill a 11/32 hole by 3/4 deep for the worm screw. I did, and found it impossible (maybe I'm a weakling) to screw the blank all the way on to worm screw to where blank rested on the jaws of the chuck like I thought you had to do.
So after finally being able to retrieve my virtually stuck worm screw out of the blank, I resolve to give it another go tonight with the faceplate mount this time to turn the outside of bowl. What size/length of wood screw do you guys recommend for attaching the faceplate? How much thread do you need going into blank on each screw to keep it mounted and keep it from being thrown across the shop?

[Brice Rogers]

Perhaps you may want to try something to lubricate the thread (and/or the hole) like bar hand soap or paraffin? I've done that for years when I have a threaded piece that doesn't want to go on.

[daryl moses]

Perhaps you may want to try something to lubricate the thread (and/or the hole) like bar hand soap or paraffin? I've done that for years when I have a threaded piece that doesn't want to go on.
This^^^^^^
Or just go up a size or two on the drill bit. As long as it threads on there good and snug you'll be good to go, especially on the size blank your turning.

[Doug Ladendorf]

Are you just turning the screw into the hole or do you have the chuck with screw mounted on the lathe and screwing the piece on? The latter should give you enough purchase but the soap or wax trick might help.

I I would be interested in faceplate screw info too. I know it's been raised many times before but now I need to buy some. :-)

[Dan Henry]

I use the blue tap a con concert screws long enough to go into the wood about a inch and use as many screws as there is holes in the face plate. If you look at the screws there is smaller theard inside of the course thread and these screws last along time. Drill a pilot hole for the screws.

[Curtis Myers]

The Robo Hippy has a video on the subject:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5KHkkws9lWA

If I'm using a faceplate that means I have a large heavy chunk of wood.
I use the biggest screws that will fit into my Oneway faceplate holes (I think they are #10 or #12 screws) that are 1-1/2" into the wood. If the face plate is 1/2" thick then my screws are 2" long.
I always use all 8 screws in my small faceplate and sometimes more screws in my large faceplate. Drill piolet holes and faceplates should be seated onto a flat surface on the wood.
Do NOT use cheep thin screws like drywall screws they are not strong enough.

[Dennis Ford]

This is a common question and there is no answer that is good in all situations. Ideally the force required to rip the screws out would be approximately equal to the tensile strength of the screw. If you are putting the screws into good hardwood side-grain, it does not take very much depth for the plain sheet metal screws that I use. If the wood is soft or spalted, more depth would be required to get the same withdrawal resistance. If the screws are going into end grain; a LOT more depth is needed.
The forces that will be put on those screws are affected much more by length of the blank than they are diameter of the blank.
For a reference point: With a 10" dia X 5" thick bowl blank of solid hardwood, I would use at least 4 #10 x 1" screws and a 3" dia. face-plate. My face-plates are about 3/8" thick so that leaves 5/8" of screw into the wood. Many of my turner friends would use more and/or longer screws to meet their comfort level. I buy #10 x 1" sheet metal screws in boxes of 100 ($7 -$8 per box), after several uses the hex head gets worn and I throw them away. The blue screws made for concrete will last a LOT longer and are MUCH stronger but they are thick enough to risk splitting some wood unless you drill pilot holes. If you drill pilot holes; use something to control their depth or risk having the holes show up where you don't want them.

[Thomas Canfield]

OK, I'm new to this. Tried my first bowl last night from a round blank about 4" wide by 2" tall. Read the directions of my new OneWay Tallon chuck and thought they said to drill a 11/32 hole by 3/4 deep for the worm screw. I did, and found it impossible (maybe I'm a weakling) to screw the blank all the way on to worm screw to where blank rested on the jaws of the chuck like I thought you had to do.
So after finally being able to retrieve my virtually stuck worm screw out of the blank, I resolve to give it another go tonight with the faceplate mount this time to turn the outside of bowl. What size/length of wood screw do you guys recommend for attaching the faceplate? How much thread do you need going into blank on each screw to keep it mounted and keep it from being thrown across the shop?
Bruce- It seems you are talking about drilling hole to mount on worm screw mounted in Talon chuck and not a faceplate question. For dry solid wood, I usually use a 3/8" drill bit and will often add a spacer plate to limit thread engagement to about 3/8 to 1/2" for smaller diameter wood (say 8" D and under). The worm screw is usually used to turn the tenon and outside of the piece, and the live center in tailstock can be used for added insurance of hold. For softer and green wood, I want to get more thread engagement and may go 1/64 smaller diameter bit and also add CA glue to drilled hole to stiffen the wood. To remove the piece from the worm screw, I made a leather strap wrench to get a better hold on the wood, but you can also slightly loosen the chuck to release the face contact with the wood but still holding the screw. Good luck learning. Ask at your local turning club how others handle it. A worm screw is very handy to start

[robert baccus]

Single screw chucks are really fine in every respect. End grain is a no-no and sidegrain is suspect in very soft & green woods. Single screws differ in their length and holding power. I always drill a bit deeper than necessary to prevent the binding you speak of--also a bit of countersink will ease starting the screw. I often turn 100#+ pieces CA glued to a very strong, hard, sidegrain, glueblock like hickory, dogwood, or beech. The blanks are always green wood which loves thick CA glue. These are usually vase shapes which are the largest load like Dennis points out. A tailstock is used to roughcut the outside and a steady wheel to hollow out. Dennis and I differ about the sheetmetal screws as the tech. books recommend the coursest threads you can find as they cut less wood across the tiny grain vessels. But neither of us lose hardly and pieces to orbit.

[Bruce Wilson]

Thanks for all the info guys. Now I know when using a faceplate I need roughly 1" of screw into the blank from all holes in faceplate to be "safe". I was able to get it on the worm screw last night though and make my first attempt at a bowl. I still used the 11/32 bit per the instructions but went in a little deeper and used soap on the threads. I turned the outside of the bowl and tenon. To get blank off to swap over to tenon mount I locked the spindle and was able to get it off with relative ease. After roughing out the inside I used a round nose scraper to smooth out the inside. I can tell more practice is needed, but my three year old recognized what I made as a bowl, so I guess I'll call it a success.

Here's a picture of it. Didn't take time to sand, just wanted to get the shape out of it and finished with just Renaissance Wax.
338854 338855

[Aaron Craven]

Nice work, Bruce! What kind of wood is that?

[Doug Ladendorf]

Glad you got it figured out. Pretty wood. What is it?

[Bruce Wilson]

thanks. It's tamarind wood.

[Geoff Whaling]

Bruce,

Wood worm screws will work fine and in most situations the directions given for installing a blank onto your Oneway woodworm screw will work well. Typically the woodworm screws are used with larger blanks from softer timbers hence the drill hole sizing.

You have had two things work against you in this particular instance - the relatively small blank diameter at 4" and the timber (tamarind) is not a soft wood.

More experienced turners recognize this and make adjustments accordingly, either going up a size for the drilled pilot hole or reduce the depth of embedment of the woodworm screw by using a spacer between the faceplate / chuck jaws and blank. Tamarind is a very hard timber when dry (at least our tamarind is) which makes it difficult for the woodworm screw to "cut a thread" into the timber. If you step up a hole size or reduce the depth of embedment or both you create a potential hazard of the blank comming off the lathe because the woodworm screw has insufficient "bite" to hold the blank for the turning. Avoid using wax etc to lubricate the hole & screw to make it easier to install - having to resort to that indicates that "something is not right" so take a bit of time to think it through.

so I would be inclined to avoid the woodworm screw and go to heavy duty wood screws and a face plate. The wood screws will also have the same issues "biting into" the timber hence using heavy duty.

Good to see you got there in the end. Check out Stuart Batty's videos on Vimeo - very good advice from a very competent experienced turner / demonstrator.