Big Faceplates

[Jason Edwards]

Hi, I'm looking to get some big faceplates made, like in the 12-16" range. I'm currently using a 8" with a heavy plywood backer, but would like the whole thing done up in steel. Anybody know anybody that does this kind of work? Thank you.

[Grant Wilkinson]

I made an 8" one up and took it to a local welder to do the welding. I bought a round plate from a local metal supplier and drilled and tapped the centre to 1 1/4" x 8. Then I bought a 1 1/4" x 8 nut, threaded a bolt through the nut and the plate to keep thing centered and took it to a local welding shop to finish it up. So far, it's worked a treat.

[Brice Rogers]

I made an 8" one up and took it to a local welder to do the welding. I bought a round plate from a local metal supplier and drilled and tapped the centre to 1 1/4" x 8. Then I bought a 1 1/4" x 8 nut, threaded a bolt through the nut and the plate to keep thing centered and took it to a local welding shop to finish it up. So far, it's worked a treat.
Grant, did you end up with any significant run-out - - either radially or axially?

[Michael Mills]

I ordered some of these last year as backers for 12" sanding dics and a donut chuck back.
I don't think you could ever bend the 5/8 thick aluminum, surely not the 1-1/4 thick. (I bought the 5/16 and 3/8 thick)
Tap and mount your existing faceplate with good screws (like chuck jaw screws).
'Thickness tolerance of .005 thickness."
http://www.sandsmachine.com/alumweb.htm

[Grant Wilkinson]

Brice: No, I didn't. The key, of course, is to get the tapped hole in the plate perfectly centered. Also, the plate and the nut must be dead flat. I was lucky in that the round plate that I started with had a dimple in the center. Had that not been the case, I would likely have started with a square piece to make finding the center easier. Once the hole was drilled and tapped, the bolt and nut tightened to keep everything plumb. I did a run out test with a dial gauge and it is as good as some of the smaller commercial faceplates that I have.

[Brice Rogers]

Thanks Grant, you did your homework and ended up with a very good faceplate. Good going!

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

Visited a shop last January near Baltimore. The guy had a huge metal lathe with a 52 inch swing. He made his own face plate 48 inches in diameter. He makes wooden patterns for flywheels and gears for obsolete machinery to be cast at a foundry. Of course he needs a davit to raise the face plate and work to the spindle.

[roger wiegand]

Trying to exactly center a hole is hard, why not turn the faceplace round and concentric after drilling/tapping or welding a nut as close as you can to centered? Seems like the easiest way to avoid runout.

[Bill Boehme]

I have a 10 inch Oneway faceplate. It uses the same taper lock spindle adapters as used in Stronghold chucks. I've expanded it to 18" using Baltic birch plywood.

[Dennis Ford]

Most of us have spindles that are 1-1/4 x 8 tpi. For the work I do, a 6" steel face-plate is strong enough to hold anything that I trust the spindle and bearings to hold. You may have other reasons to want a large face-plate.

[Grant Wilkinson]

Roger: I completely agree that would be the best way to go, but I don't have the ability to turn the steel plate.

[roger wiegand]

It's good to have a friend with a metal lathe and milling machine and the knowledge to use them!

Long ago for some project I needed to true a steel disk. I attached an angle grinder to my toolrest on a wood lathe with a couple of hose clamps set it to just touching the outside rim at the widest point and rotated the disk into the grinder, edging it closer bit by bit. Once it was round a touch with a file to took the sharp edge off. Not fine machining by any stretch, but it worked.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I made all my faceplates, though I never use the large ones, being 7 or 8 inches, I do use a smaller one that is a bit under 4 inches for all large and medium pieces, like this Large Sycamore blank, the 28 inch Maple bowl and the one on the floor.

I made loose center pieces where the faceplate fits over, so I can easily set first the loose center at the exact point and then set the faceplate over it and screw it down.

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I also made a couple small cheap faceplates from 1” X 8 tpi nuts and large washer, I need to use a spacer ring between the nut and shoulder of the spindle, they work fine but I still have to use them, as the mini and midi lathes came with faceplates

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Now if one likes to turn some light shades, then a couple of large faceplates would be nice to have, especially with the endgrain that is normally used for them.