I took the wood turning course but do not have experience. My current project is to turn a flat plate. Becausee the material is only 1in. thick I will need a glue block to mount on the lathe.
Question: is there “Glue Block” available in the shop for me to use? or do I have to plan to make one. I want to plan the material before showing up at the space.
Thanks in advance.
1 Like
I suggest cutting a mortise in the bottom. Then mount on a nova chuck. I will be turning on next Tuesday around 10 am to 2pm and would be glad to walk you through how to do this.
2 Likes
I concur with this. You can glue a block and then turn it off, but it is much easier to turn a mortise in the bottom of the plate. Be sure to cut a circle from the plate stock on the band saw first, too. It is much easier than using the lathe to round off the corners.
What are you making the plate from? What kind of wood?
You would need to bring your own block and glue gun. I have never used a glue block but have made mortises and tenons. I’ll be at the shop tomorrow until at least 11 am if you want some guidance on the 4 jaw chuck and cutting a mortise for mounting a piece.
1 Like
@dwolf Thanks so much to offer to help. I can be there from 10AM to Noon. I will lok you up.
@coloneldan The wood is Red Oak. I have cut end pieces from the stair treads. I want to try to make small shallow dish from the wood if possible.
I just realized the wood is only 3/4 in. thick. I hope it is workable.
@AndrewG Thanks for offering to help. But unfortunately I cannot make it tomorrow. Let me know if you are going to to be in next weekend. I surely need all the help I can get.
That’s pretty thin to work with. Hard to get a tenon on that. Maybe an “innie” mortise for chuck to grab, but still…way too easy to run the bowl gouge into the chuck from the other side IMO.
Consider gluing two of the off-cuts together? Maybe with a third very thin piece of something of different color to offset the line and make it look like some intentional design. Even a piece of plywood would suffice, really…it’s just a practice piece after all and once you get some finish on it, it will look nice no matter what.
1 Like
What diameter are you going for? Stair treads are about 10" wide or so. 3/4 is a touch thin, it can be done, but there won’t be much relief from the rim to the bottom of the food side of the plate (ie it will be a fairly flat plate). This is a good project to get started in turning. See you Tuesday!
@dwolf I have to go in to work today. So cannot make it to the space today. But I really appreciate all the input and offer to help. I will take up on the offer later. I will ping you when I am ready. It is more of a learning experience rather an serious project.
No problem - I am usually at the Maker Space on Tuesdays 10 ish to 2 ish. Let me know when you can make it. I occasionally go other days, I’ll let you know if I do.
I will be at the makerspace today 9 to 1 maybe later. If you can make it great, if not I’ll be there next week Tuesday (and maybe Thursday).
I will be there Saturday morning until noonish working on a non-Woodturning project. As others have said 3/4” is pretty thin to start with, but not impossible. You might find a thicker piece of wood to play with the process on before you dive into the challenge of that thinner piece. I have a cedar bowl blank that was accidentally mailed to me a couple weeks back that you are welcome to have to play with.
I have had something come up and won’t be there this morning.