Help turning small items, face grain showing..

[Matt Allan]

Hey guys,
Asked about turning some jewelry plugs here a little while ago. I finally got the lathe from my friend and been playing around, seem to have the hang of it enough to be able to turn them out of a few scrap branches and bought some cheapy pen blacks off ebay.

Turning them from the blanks and branches between centers, then cutting off and mounting 1 side in the micro 3 jaw chuck both ways I got from PSI to finish the showing side and back seems to work for me, this makes the showing part of the plug the end grain of the wood

Any advice on how I would turn them to have the face grain show? Like in the picture below. They sent me that and asked to make a few with the face grain. Not sure the best way to get started doing them that way

I can already see how you guys get hooked on this, even with a free lathe it looks like this is going to end up in me spending a few bucks :)


Thanks
Matt

[Gary DeWitt]

Partly depends on how big these are. I looked into making them, they can run from under half inch up to several inches. Lets say you're going to make one 1" dia and about 1/4 or 5/16 front to back. Start with a 3/4 thick board, mark out a circle a little over 1" with a compass, cut it out on a band saw or scroll saw or a coping saw if you must. Put a block of sacrificial wood on your chuck, face it off flat with your tool of choice. Stick your stock to the block of wood with double sided tape, hot glue, CA, your choice. Turn it to correct diameter, scoop out the cove that runs around the diameter, and face off the flat outside. Pry or cut the piece off with a parting tool. If you crowned the outside, you will need to turn the block of wood in your chuck with a concave spot to hold it now, attach it to the block with 2 sided tape (there is a special turning tape that's very strong made just for this) turn it around and finish what will be the back. Remove from lathe, sand and finish as desired.
Warning: research what woods are toxic or allergenic before proceding. Finish only with walnut or mineral oil or bees wax. You can't put just any wood in intimate contact with the body without consequences.
Have fun and good luck.

[Jason Hallowell]

To get the endgrain on the side, just orient the piece with the grain running perpendicular to the lathe bed when you chuck it up. I would continue using the methods you described, as it is the best way to ensure that everything stays centered. Turning endgrain can cause some tearout problems in many woods, but if your lathe has reverse, this can be minimized, and further corrected by sanding in both directions. This is one of the reasons that I mentioned in response to your previous post that a small metal working lathe is the best tool suited to this particular application.

[Jim Becker]

You need to turn them mounted to a glue block to exact diameter, "finish" off the face, part off and then finish the "back" with a friction chuck, usually created using another glue-block with a hole exactly the same diameter as the button. If you make the hole ever so slightly oversize, you can use a bit of toilet tissue or paper towel to make the fit tight while still allowing you to remove the piece without damaging it later. Alternatively, you can use a four jaw chuck to hold the button for finishing the back, but you must have one that as smooth and straight jaws (not dovetailed) available and use a rubber cushion to protect the workpiece from marring.

[Jason Hallowell]

You need to turn them mounted to a glue block to exact diameter, "finish" off the face, part off and then finish the "back" with a friction chuck, usually created using another glue-block with a hole exactly the same diameter as the button. If you make the hole ever so slightly oversize, you can use a bit of toilet tissue or paper towel to make the fit tight while still allowing you to remove the piece without damaging it later. Alternatively, you can use a four jaw chuck to hold the button for finishing the back, but you must have one that as smooth and straight jaws (not dovetailed) available and use a rubber cushion to protect the workpiece from marring.

Sound advice, but I would stay away from 4 jaw chucks on round items. For repeated accuracy and ease of use, I would stick with a 3 or 6 jaw scroll chuck. Small sections of vinyl tubing with a slit down one side make great protectors. The thinner wall stuff sold for light weight aquarium uses works pretty well, and comes in a variety of sizes.