Thread: Face plates, make your own

I was looking at faceplates only yesterday and wondering what they could possibly be used for. They seemed entirely redundant.

I see now how useful they could be

Half the fun in using a lathe, be it wood or metal, is making "tools" to use in conjunction for another project.

Jim just for interest sake, what is the temperature in your shed compared to the house?
We put Evap ducted through the house early in December. We have 24° inside with 83% humidity while outside its 38° and about 50%. Its overcast too and they are talking heavy rain down the coast below you

One thing that would concern me a little is the long term reliability of a 30 mm wooden thread,
I realise another all wooden faceplate can be made very quickly, but what happens if the wooden thread decides to give way while there's some serious action happening on the headstock?
A small improvement in thread strength might be gained by saturating the thread in epoxy and once fully cured running the tap through the thread.

The main issue is the entire motor back torque is being acted on at a very small radius (15mm on a 30 mm thread) so it would seem safer to set up faceplates that use a greater turning radius than this.

Increasing the length of the thread would help, except that on most small lathes the headstock thread is already very short, eg my headstock thread is only 20 mm long

I have made my own face plates using 60 mm diameter Al rod and cut these into half a dozen 30 mm lengths and then drilled & tapped the 30 mm thread into the lengths of rod.
Around the outside of each rod piece I drilled and trapped some 5 mm holes and attached either a 3 mm Al plate or 12 mm ply using CS screws.
I also made an MDF version made of two x 19 mm sheets of MDF glued together, where the Screw holes are CS about 10 mm into the MDF.
Now the back torque radius is 25 mm and the thread contact is metal to metal.

Just like regular faceplates if the plywood ones die then the plywood sections can be easily replaced.

The following won't apply to many folks but after making 12 Al blast gates for the mens shed I have some 36 , 3m thick x150 mm diameter Al discs that are just perfect replacement face plates

IMG_1774.jpg
IMG_1776.jpg

Id imagine putting some thin CA all through the new thread would make it pretty tough.

Powderpost, Im going to give your home made jobbies a go in the next few days. It will be fun to see how it goes.

I'll tell you if they maim me

BobL, of course you have a valid point. We could play the "what if", game add in finitum. What if the screws holding the job on the steel face plate give way, etc .etc. I have used these now for in excess of five years, with no failures. I guess the next "problem" will be that I have bored the hole the wrong size, and so it goes on. I have based my issue of wooden face plates on practical experience. Why not use a hardwood instead?

Jim

Originally Posted by powderpost

BobL, of course you have a valid point. We could play the "what if", game add in finitum. What if the screws holding the job on the steel face plate give way, etc .etc. I have used these now for in excess of five years, with no failures. I guess the next "problem" will be that I have bored the hole the wrong size, and so it goes on. I have based my issue of wooden face plates on practical experience. Why not use a hardwood instead?

Jim

Sure I understand.
I've got a few things made with large wooden screws like clamps so I have some idea of the strength of wooden threads.
These have slightly coarser / longer threads, and not being forced too hard, but as you say yours have lasted for 5 years so they are obviously coping so far.

They all have a place! I do like my steel faceplates for starting bowls.

The safety concerns of using wooden face plates with threads tapped directly into the wood is of course valid, however we all use tools and accessories "within limits" every time we use them. Some like to push the limits, others feel more comfortable and like to be very conservative, yet others have a very good working knowledge of the pro's and con's of each accessory option.

"Knowing the limits" comes from experience and knowledge. Knowledge of what woods to use and which ones to avoid; just how big a project can be attached to them; how much force can be applied via depth of cut etc before a failure will occur.

I'm a firm believer in "horses for courses" use the tool or accessory that gives you the best chance of success or as David Pye says "certainty." Wooden face plates present some unique advantages for specific projects so have their place but they also have their limits.

I much prefer to use the Vermec face plate system with the "standard" chuck insert and steel face plates and then use a wood intermediate "face plate" and then sacrificial "waste blocks" glued to the face of that, then the project glued to the waste block. My system works for me but requires more work; it has potential for two glue interface or one screw interface failure; it has a longer offset from the headstock etc. Some may see those "disadvantages" as weaknesses however they can also be positives that allow 95% of a project to be turned from the one mounting without reversing the work piece.

I also used DIY small wooden face plates made from black steel nuts (descaled etc) that were inset and epoxied into 45mm thick Kwilia on my little Nova mercury for many years. They worked very well "within limits."

Knowing the limits of work holding methods is a distinct advantage and so is having a range of options that you can call upon to maximise the advantages of one option over another for that project which requires a little something extra.

I commend PP and BobL for sharing their knowledge and experience for others to learn from and to give them options for future projects.

3 days ago, I thought faceplates were useless. Now I know THREE ways in which they may be used.

My turnings will now be better! Especially the bowls

Some interesting feed back, with thanks to those that did contribute. As mentioned, I have been using this concept for at least five years, I should have stated more clearly the not necessarily the same face plate for five years. One of the many issues that lead me here, is that there is nowhere up here where I can buy stuff on demand, and I often require a new chuck/face plate for the job, because the other chucks/ face plates are being used on another project. Making a wooden one is a quick solutiion. They are sacrificial and do get re-shaped according to what is required and consequently do not lsat long. But that is the very reason for making them, maybe the idea is not for every one but thats o.k. They suit me and what I do.

Jim

Originally Posted by woodPixel

3 days ago, I thought faceplates were useless. Now I know THREE ways in which they may be used.
My turnings will now be better! Especially the bowls

Dedicated cheap faceplates are incredibly useful - especially if you have something on them that will get repeatedly used and you can just leave them on the faceplate, like this bell mouth hood former used to heat form PVC pipe into Bell Mouth Hoods.
see Improving machine cabinet dust ports
Don't get too worried about the cracks in the former. It looks like a high speed operation but the PVC ducting piece covers the former and the lathe only spins at around 60 rpm while the BMH is being made.
I'm also in the middle of making one for 6" ducting.

I envisage making some other shapes as well.

former.jpg process2.jpg

Originally Posted by BobL

Dedicated cheap faceplates are incredibly useful - especially if you have something on them that will get repeatedly used and you can just leave them on the faceplate, like this bell mouth hood former used to heat form PVC pipe into Bell Mouth Hoods.
see Improving machine cabinet dust ports
Don't get too worried about the cracks in the former. It looks like a high speed operation but the PVC ducting piece covers the former and the lathe only spins at around 60 rpm while the BMH is being made.
I'm also in the middle of making one for 6" ducting.

I envisage making some other shapes as well.

former.jpg process2.jpg

That is so cool! How long would you say it takes you to form each hood?

Originally Posted by bueller

That is so cool! How long would you say it takes you to form each hood?

2 minutes to heat the former
30 seconds to heat the inside of the piece of pipe
2 minutes heating the former/duct while slowly screwing in the tail stock
30 seconds to cool the hood - by just running the lathe with the DC on

All up about 5 minutes.