using a face plate

[Brad Barnhart]

Howdy! I'm fairly new to the turning vortex, & am learning faster than I can put it all to use.�� But I've got a problem with using a face plate. Is it necessary to put a spacer, shall we say, on the face plate between the work piece & the steel face plate? Next, & this is driving me crazy. Once I've mounted the work piece to the face plate, it always seems to be off center, or wobbly? I'm making a pair of tumblers. I used a 3/4" roughing gouge to get the spindle to size. I used a skew to smooth things up, & take out the tool marks, & get my actual size. I cut the spindle in half, & centered the first half on the face plate. When I turned on the lathe, my work piece "wobbled" like crazy!! I rechecked the center, & it was ok. What did I do wrong? My lathe is no high end machine. Its a hf 12 x 36. The lowest speed I can run is 1135 rpm. Its a might fast, but I'm learning. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks for your time. Brad.

[Reed Gray]

That is really fast, especially for some one who is just beginning. Most of the time, spindle work is turned between centers, rather than off a face plate. If you are mounting with the face plate, the end you are bolting into needs to be dead square and flat. Centering is never perfect, so some wobble is expected. I looked up St. Francis, and you are out in the middle of nowhere, so finding a club would be difficult. There may be some turners in the area though. If you can get to some where to take lessons, it is worth the effort. Other than that, lots of You Tube videos. I have a bunch up (type in robo hippy), and most of mine are geared to bowl turning, not spindle work. You could check out Lyle Jamieson as well. Many others, some good, and some scary.

robo hippy

[David Walser]

Brad -- Welcome to the vortex! You asked several questions. I'll try to answer as many as I can:

1. It's not necessary to put a spacer between the faceplate and your turning blank. However, using a spacer (what most of use would call a glue block) is very common. Unless you're using double-stick tape to attach the blank to the faceplate (or some other form of adhesive) using a faceplate is apt to leave screw holes in your finished project or require you to waste wood.
2. It's very difficult to perfectly center a faceplate onto a blank. Usually, you get it as close as you reasonably can and then true it up once it's mounted on the lathe. This is true of other methods of mounting blanks to the lathe. However, it sounds from your description that your problem is more than just failing to get the blank centered. It sounds like you've not mounted the blank securely to the faceplate. Without having driven in any screws, the faceplate needs to sit on the blank without rocking. This requires the blank to be perfectly flat (or have a slightly concave profile so that the blank contacts faceplate evenly around the rim). If you're relying on the screws to pull the blank up tight to the faceplate, you're asking for trouble.
3. You didn't ask, but I'll answer an important question: Use sheet metal screws. Do NOT use drywall screws. It's way too easy to shear off the head of a drywall screw!
4. I also have the HF 12x36 lathe. (Isn't it really 12x33-3/8"?) Mine will turn at a little less than 600 rpm. If yours won't, something is wrong. By the way, many of us started with that lathe. It's a decent lathe if you keep within its limitations. I now have a much nicer lathe, but I still use my HF for spindles, pens, and buffing.

I suggest you look at some videos from Lyle Jamieson on YouTube. Start with this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4xIHTS0yJc In it he discusses why he always starts between centers. Then watch this one, in which he discusses glue blocks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8b35iq4LTA This video is important because he shows how to attach a glue block to the faceplate (the same technique would apply if you were attaching the blank directly to the faceplate).

HTH

[Michael Mills]

If by tumbler you are talking about a tall glass then it is an ambitious project.
I would take the stock and face off each end between centers so they are flat and true (or very slightly concave). You will probably have a little nub on the ends to saw off. Cut in half.
Then mount the faceplate to a trued end and with tailstock support use your roughing gouge and skew to turn to the desired shape. It should run true with the faceplate now.

[robert baccus]

TRy glueing the piece to a squared off glueblock with thick CA. Use the tailstock to center the end and clamp it straight and square with the lathe. The glue will tolerate some deviation and gaps with full strength. Epoxy will do the same on dry wood only. Standard woodglues will not tolerate a poor fit or wetness.

[Lloyd Butler]

Lots of assistance passed along so far, so I will just add a bit of info on a way to centre a blank on a face plate so you can use that in the future.

attach a waste block of wood a couple of inches thick to your face plate. This is generally cross grain rather than end grain. Turn it round and flatten the face as best you can. Turn or drill a 1/2" or so hole in the centre of the face of the waste block while it is on the lathe.

put your wood blank on the lathe between a spur drive and live centre to allow you to turn it into a cyclinder. On one end turn a tenon that will fit snugly into the hole in your waste block on the face plate. You want the tenon shorter then the hole is deep so the faces of the wood fit together nicely. Then you can glue the two pieces together. The tenon in the hole will centre the pieces to give you a pretty smooth running blank and the glue will allow you to remove the tail stock if the wood is not too long. This is useful for small boxes and things of that sort that are not too deep (4-5").

[Brad Barnhart]

Thank you for all the information & help, gentlemen. I certainly appreciate it. My apologies for not getting back to this post quicker, but, we've been out of town for the last few days. I'll take all this advice into consideration, & do more studying. At the moment though, I've got plenty of scroll work to keep me busy for a day or two. Thank you again, & enjoy the day.