Free Faceplates.........

[Stu in Tokyo]

.......OK, not quite "Free" but dirt cheap for sure........

I bought the Beall wood threading tap (http://www.bealltool.com/products/turning/spindletap.php), sized for my Nova DVR 3000 lathe, that would be 1 1/4" 8 TPI.

I'll show you how it works.......

59986
OK here is the basic set up, I have;
A block of wood, (dense hardwood, side grain is the best)
A chuck and jaws that will hold said block of wood
A 14mm box end wrench
A Dill bit sized for the tap you have for your lathe
A wood tap, sized for your lathe
A dill chuck with a MT#2 on it to go into the tail stock
A lathe, and some Pam cooking spray

59987
You start by putting the wooden block in the chuck, and the drill chuck in the tailstock and the drill bit, in the drill chuck

59988
The you drill the hole, with the lathe on a fairly slow speed, I find that about 400 rpm just right.

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Make sure you clean the hole out well, then you remove the drill chuck and bit from the tail stock, and get the wood tap and the 14mm box end wrench.
I put the box end of the wrench on the square part of the tap, with the wrench on there so the wrench angles towards the headstock, not the tail stock.

From this point on the lathe is used UNPOWERED until the tapping is finished!

59990
You can see the wrench here contacting the banjo, this holds the wrench from turning, which, is like having a third hand. BTW, Beall does recommends to do things slightly differently, they use the open end, which works, but I find this way, I can concentrate on keeping the tap going into the wood more consistently. (the RED arrow show the wrench contacting the banjo)

59991
OK, now you move up the tail stock, without anything in the MT hole, the end of the tap goes in there. Move the tail stock so the end of the tap goes in the hole of the MT and the tap goes in the hole you just drilled, with the wrench contacting the banjo, you are now free to turn the spindle of the lathe with one hand and the tail stock with the other hand. You can see the knock out bar I put in the handle on the spindle side, this makes it a lot easier to turn. The tail stock is turned to apply only slight pressure on the tap, once the tap starts to dig in, it pulls itself into the wood.

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A shot of Pam cooking spray makes this even easier :D

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When the tap bottoms out, stop turning, if you keep going, you can split the block of wood.

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Pull the tailstock out of the way, and lock the spindle on your lathe, then using the wrench, back the tap out of the hole

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You should have some nice threads in your hole now.........

Cont..........

[Stu in Tokyo]

Part II

Now you need to face off the block and do a little cutting.

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First, I need a little bump or ridge on the block, as my lathe has a flush bearing right behind the spindle, so I need this bump as a spacer.
mine needs to be 44mm, I mark it with my dividers, which are set to 44mm, making sure to touch only the left leg of the dividers.
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I turn the face off, leaving this little ridge, or spacer, I also turn the threads off on the inside just a touch.

60002
A close up.
Your lathe might be different, figure it out, what can and what cannot make contact when the block is screwed on all the way.

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This is how the spindle of my DVR 3000 looks

59999
Here the block is screwed into place, you can see the space that the bump or ridge provides, without it, the block would rub on the face of the headstock........... not good.... :rolleyes:

60000
Now it is just a simple matter to turn the blocks nice and round and flat on the face, I'll use these two for jam chucks or some such thing, having a couple around is really convenient.
60001
I make them into face plates of a sort, and then use them to mount my Donut chucks or my leather faced power strop.

Well, I hope this was of some interest to some one, the $27 or so the tap costs, plus the drill bit, (if you don't have one in the right size) is a good investment, as you can make a lot of fixtures for you lathe that just bolt right on.

Cheers!

[killerbeast]

very very nice !! this is exatly what i have been looking for, looking forward to getting my tap in the post soon :-) It´s always great with loots of pictures for those of us not having that much experience. Makes the translation of terms to danish tool names much much easier. Great work.

[wheelinround]

Nice Stu shame they don't have a 1x10" tap I'll have to see if I can locate one elsewhere.

Ray

[rsser]

And now for a male thread ;-}

There was a tip in American Woodturner on a DIY male threaded rod to hold your chuck and workpiece in a vice for carving or decorating.

Get a length of hardwood and cut it into an octagon in cross section. When held in a vice this shape allows you to rotate the setup in smallish increments as you work around a piece.

Turn a tenon on one end the length of your lathe spindle and in diameter no smaller than the outside spindle thread diameter.

Holding it in a vice, start to thread your chuck or faceplate onto it. You're looking to make marks that you can highlight with pencil. Then start to carve out the thread groove with a triangular file. Progress to the bottom in stages.

[BernieP]

G'Day Stu

Great WIP copied and kept.

Cheers
Bernie

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Good idea... but any wood I have that size tend to become turnings. Even the crappy stuff. :B The fact that I already have quite a few faceplates clutterling the place makes a difference, of course. :U

How do they go with movement in the long term, Stu? I know they're easily refaced before each use, but if the threaded section "ovals out" or if you've glued on a leather lining for buffing then things'd become a bit... awkward.

I might pinch the idea for "directly mountable" jam chucks though... I get so peeved trying to recentre the chucks onto my faceplates at times. (One day I'll mark them properly for future reference. :roll:)

[Caveman]

Hey Stu - great step-by-step as usual:2tsup:.

Thanks for taking the time to share it.

[Tim the Timber Turner]

I have used a MDF sanding disc for the last 10 years.:2tsup:

Method used for cutting M30 thread.

Mount the MDF disc on the lathe (I used the Vicmarc bowl jaws) and drill/turn a hole aprox 27mm dia. Making sure the MDF is thick enough. Most M30 threads are 30mm long. Build up may be required.

Tap the hole in the lathe as discribed by Stu. Using the tailstock to hold the tap will ensure the cutting of a thread that is square to the face. I used an M30 intermediate metal tap (McJING's about $20, they also have 1"10.)

The lathe power must be off and the disc turned by hand while advancing the tailstock.

After tapping the hole soak the thread in thin superglue. It will take heaps so have a good supply on hand.

Leave overnight to allow the superglue to dry. Then run the tap through again as the supaglue will have raised the grain (grain in MDF???)

Cut and glue a 3mm MDF disc on the face to cover the hole and give a solid surface.

Mount on the lathe and true up with a gentle scraping action.

Caution MDF dust is nasty. Protect your lungs.

Seal with 2 or 3 coats of what ever you have in your spray gun or a pressure pack can of clear spray.

Glue on a disc of velcro and you can use the quick change abrasive discs.

Cheers

[Stu in Tokyo]

Glad you guys liked it!

I've not had a problem with the wood moving :D

[Harry72]

Nice work Stu, might have a go myself.

[Harry72]

A beall tap is on order!

[canchippy]

Made from baltic birch plywood in 6" and 8" sizes using a 1"x10 tap I picked up in a junk store for $5. The circles were put on to make positioning other jigs a bit easier. I treat these as throw aways and get through about a dozen a year.
60680

[Stu in Tokyo]

Made from baltic birch plywood in 6" and 8" sizes using a 1"x10 tap I picked up in a junk store for $5. The circles were put on to make positioning other jigs a bit easier. I treat these as throw aways and get through about a dozen a year.
60680

Great job! :2tsup: