Face Plate

[Bernie Weishapl]

I have a couple of questions before I start on a bowl tomorrow. How long should the sheet metal screws for use with a faceplate? The blanks that I have are 10" X 3" of which 10" is as big as I can go. I also have some 6" X 3". Also I have seen the screw chucks used when turning bowls and platters. How does one deal with the hole left by the screw? I have also seen blank pieces of wood screwed to a face plate with a lag screw coming thru the wood to hold the blank. Thanks.

[Keith Burns]

Bernie I use a glue block with a face plate. Screws about 1" long into block and glue the block to your blank. Turn your bowl and then part it off from the glue block. Angle your part a little bit, concave, then you can sand the bottom. Hope this makes sense.

[Curt Fuller]

Like Keith said, it's best to use a waste block. Just remember when parting it off, how deep those screws go. If you hit them, they're hard on a parting tool.

[Gary DeWitt]

Bernie, I'm assuming you have some dry wood there, by the dimensions. You have at least 3 choices, if you have a screw chuck you can drill a hole the size of the bottom of the threads (small dimension) in what will become the inside of the bowl, just deep enough for the screw. Then you turn the outside and the foot, tennon or recess depending on how you want to chuck it after turning and also how you want the final bowl. If a tennon, it needs to be 1/16 to 1/8 bigger than the minimum diameter of your chuck jaws for the best hold. Then you turn your wood around and re-chuck it, and turn the rim and the inside.
Another way to do it is to use a glue block, a waste piece of hardwood, mounted on your faceplate or chuck and trued up flat on it's face. You then glue your blank to it, centered, and let it dry before turning. You can use the tailstock as a clamp for the first hour or so if you want. If you use only a faceplate use sheet metal screws as long as possible that won't leave holes in the final bowl, and the faceplate side again becomes the inside of the bowl. The lag screw will work if you can get it centered in the waste block. Suggest you mount the block first, drill a hole in it for the screw with a jacobs chuck on the tailstock of the lathe, then take the faceplate off and run the screw into it from the back, without taking the wood off the faceplate if you can.
Hope this helps.

[Jim Becker]

Screw chucks are normally only used for forming the outside of the bowl and making a tenon for use in a scroll chuck. The hole is in the "waste" portion of the bowl that will be cut away when it is hollowed.

I also concure with using a waste block on the faceplate. It lets you preserve the whole blank. In fact, it's possible to completely turn the bowl without reversing, parting it off with a slight undercut after finishing it.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Thanks guys. I appreciat the help. I watched Bill G.'s DVD and he just used a faceplate with what looked like 1" or 1 1/2" square head screws but said sheet metal are just as good. He also said don't use dry wall screws. I didn't know if 1" or 1 1/2" or what length would be ok. Also what type of glue do you use to glue the blank to the waste block? Just yellow glue, ploy glue, or what? Thanks again.

[Jim Becker]

Bernie, most of the time I use medium or thick CA to bond the blank to a waste block 'cause it's fast, but I have also used PVA when I was preparing things "overnight". Do not use paper between the waste block and the blank. It's not necessary and for a larger piece, could cause a problem if the joint let's go during the turning process. Your parting tool(s) will let you easily remove the workpiece from the waste block when the proper time comes.

And yes, never, never, ever use drywall screws for this! Dangerious! As to length...I like about an inch into the waste block, so with a 1/2" thick faceplate, that would mean a 1 1/2" screw. I use #10, #12 and sometimes #14 square drive screws with deep threads for this job. Sheet metal screws are fine as long as they have deep threads.