How can I hold......

Re: How can I hold......

Mike Schwing from Md.

>Turn a bowl that has a rim that'll fit a diameter a bit under the widest diameter of your hollow form. Put some foam around the edge and then use it as a jam chuck for the top of the form. Bring the tailstock up to the centerpoint of the form's bottom and use gentle cuts on the gouge. Form the bottom all the way down to where you just have a little nub supporting the tailstock, and then knock it off. Sand/carve the tiny depression you couldn't get to before.

This is basically the same thing I do with my vac chuck - the vac drum buts up against the hollow form's top. If you buy a tailstock chuck adapter you can screw the chuck onto the tailstock with the workpiece on, and center it on the drum perfectly (or darn close). Of course you'll then need something else for the drum chuck - faceplate would be fine.

Re: Not wanting to put anyone out of business, but

Al Crandall --NE of Indy--

>Not wanting to put anyone out of business, but I'm surprised that anyone actually buys those adapters to screw onto the live centers when they can be made from wood quite easily. I made mine by driling and tapping a hunk of wood and then facing a nice square shoulder and cutting a counterbore in the end so the wood registers without any slop when screwed on the threads of the live center. Then I installed the live center in the headstock with the wood attached, and turned the other side of the wood to fit snugly into the mounting threads of the chuck with a shoulder for the chuck to register against.

You can get just as good alignment of a chuck or faceplate from the tailstock end by sliding it on a wood adapter as you can by screwing it onto a metal adapter as long as there is a shoulder on the wood to square against. The problem of trying to drive a piece of wood with a revolving center mounted in the headstock can be solved by dropping a short nail into the locking hole in the side of the live center and securing it with a couple of wraps of duct tape while turning. I have wood alignment adapters for my live center which fit my 1"-8 and 1 1/4"-8 attachments and they work great.

I use "Dicky the Stick"

Barry Irby

>Any Johny Carson fans out there? I made a stick that has a Morse taper on it and a dimple in the outer end. The dimple fits my live center and I line up the stick in the head stock with it. Then I put a little piece of carpet pad in the hollow form and Pull the tail stock back and put the hollow form over the stick. I leave a little point in the bottom of the HF on purpose (really) and it fits in the dimple. Then I bring the tail stock up against the bottom. I make it a point to leave the center mark on the bottom of the HF for this purpose. If Dicky is too small, I wrap blue tape or carpet pad around it. The stick drives the form from inside. In your case, with a 3/8 hole, it might not work. Not enough surface area on the end of a 3/8 rod to drive the form. Next time how about gluing the collar in later?

Re: How can I hold......

Hawaii Turner

>I use a "sandwich" chuck. I can't download pics from my camera right now, or I would post a pic (worth 2000 words, in my case) I don't know where to refer you, but i'll try to describe it.

I use it in my chuck, but you could mount it on a dedicated faceplate. Here is how.

1) I turn a base from a piece of wood at least 1 1/4" thick and 1 1/2" larger than the largest dia. of the vessel with a spigot to fit my chuck.Bore a recess to accept the top of the vessel, probably making contact just slightly larger then the collars dia.

2) I cut a piece of MDF or Plywood to the same dia. as the base, this will be the clamping piece.

3) drill 3 equally spaced 7/32" holes on a circle that is at least 3/4" larger than the vessel thru both pieces.

4) Bore a hole thru the MDF so that it slips over the vessel to an area that it can "sandwich" the vessel betweet it and the base. Pad the openings in both the base and the clamp piece so as not to damage the vessel.

5) use 1/4" carriage bolts long enough to go thru the clamping plate and the base while sandwiching the vessel in between and using wingnuts on the ends of the carriage bolts. Be certain to install the carr. bolts from the plate to the base so that the wing nuts will be on the chuck(or faceplate) end and not catch your hands as it rotates.

6) mount on lathe and with wing nuts loose, move vessel side to side until the end in centered and then tighten the nuts eniugh to hold, but not break the piece. Turn and sand the exposed bottom.

If not clear enough, I will see if I can post a pic using another computer.

Aloha,

Doug

Re: How can I hold....correction..

Hawaii Turner

>besides some spelling errors, #3 should be--drill 3 equally spaces 9/32" holes, not 7/32"

Aloha Doug

Re: How can I hold......

Spence in Rhode Island

>Thanks Mike! Since I have a pretty good sized bowl mounted and ready to start turning the inside this will probably be the easiest of the ideas to do. Hopefully I'll be posting a pic of this baby when I'm done.

As always :)

Spence

Re: Not wanting to put anyone out of business, but

Spence in Rhode Island

>Thanks Al! I 'm with you all the way. Already have several kinds of adapters made up for keeping stuff centered. More or less anyways! LOL

Regards

Spence

Re: I use "Dicky the Stick"

Spence in Rhode Island

>What fun would there be in gluing the colloar in later?? Actually I thought of doing that about four minutes in on five minute epoxy. LOL I love the idea but "Dicky the Stick"?? Was thinking that I could add a spring and padded secondary colloar to the headstock side to helt turn the piece. Hardest part would be in finding the right sized spring...HHhhmmmmm.......

Thanks for the help!

Spence

Re: How can I hold......

Spence in Rhode Island

>Thanks Doug!

This sounds simalar to something I already have but set up for much larger pieces. If I have to I'll reconfigure it for small stuff too. I appreciate the help.

Thanks again

Spence

Re: How can I hold......

Dick Hines

>I use PVC couplers. I have 3" to 4" and 4" to 5" and so on. I chuck them up,lightly, and place a piece of the stuff used for tol box drewers over the PVC. Then just bring the tail stock up and clean and sand the bottom.

Do not tighten the chuck on the PVC to much. PVC will chrck easily Use just enough force to keep it from spinning in the chuck.

I don't recomend tring to hold the PVC by expanding the chuck.

And keep the RPM's low.

Re: I use "Dicky the Stick"

Joe Herrmann

>Wasn't it "Jimmy the Stick"? One of my favorite bits!

Joe

Dicky it was

tek-Brunswick, Ohio

>

Re: I use "Dicky the Stick"

Barry Irby

>I sure hope it was Dicky, I've actually labeled mine so I won't throw it away. Memory fades, Leno has been on there for ten years. Maybe time to buy the tapes.