flatening a recessed surface.

[Gregg Feldstone]

I am making a simple lazy susan out of padauk and will be giving it a lip around the edge so things won't roll off. I've decided to try this on the lathe, and round over the edge with a router. I want to remove 1/4" of material from all but the outer1/2" of the piece. How can I make sure to keep the surface dead flat? Is there any typle of depth stop I can safetly use on a scraper?
I don't want to spend lots of time sanding the surface flat, either. I also don't want to cut a templete for the router. Any ideas???

[Dean Thomas]

You could probably use a nicely sharpened scraper (or a skew on its side to become a "negative rake scraper") and clamp a big ol' wooden screw clamp on it to act as a depth gauge. The clamp would need to ride the tool rest and the tool rest would have to be set up absolutely parallel to what would become the bottom of your recess.

This would obviously depend on what sort of tool rest you have and whether or not you could actually slide a clamp along it, and whether or not you could grab the tool firmly enough to keep it from moving.

And then there is the other option, get the sucker really, really close to flat and then sand with a block behind the paper to ensure FLAT.

There's that darned four letter word again used in conjunction with wood. Sorry. :eek:

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Gregg.....Norm on NYW recently made a table top using his lathe and a router and was doing the same as you want to do. He made a jig for his router and used the router to set the depth.

But you can do it as Dean suggested...either a flat scraper or a skew used as a scraper.

[Rich Stewart]

Eyeball it.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Use a gouge and eyeball it as Rich says. If you ride the bevel and take a light cut there should be no problem. Roll the edge with your gouge and you won't need a router. I think sanding is a necessity or at least it is with me.

[John Hart]

Yep...I'd do it without the router and eyeball it. If you had a straight edge the same length as the surface diameter, you could check it while it's spinning to ensure your flat surface as you go.

[Andy Hoyt]

Forgo the router. You should be able to turn it in a third of the time needed to set up the router.

Just be careful of deflection as the piece gets thin.

[Dave Peck]

I level the face of the turning and check that it is dead flat. Then I use a narrow scraper to make a series of groves to the proper depth (a dial caliper has a rod that comes out the end which works well for this). This gives me several reference points across the turning and makes the eyeballing easier.

Dave

[Gregg Feldstone]

Thanks for the help...lots of good suggestions here!!!