Something that has been bugging me for a while is where and how to store my donut chuck.  I use it often so it needs to be close to the lathe, but at just under 16″ diameter and consisting of a couple pieces 3/4″ plywood along with a heavy dedicated face plate, it is fairly bulky and heavy.  Inspiration struck me and I decided to hang it on the wall behind my lathe using a threaded wooden dowel.  The following post shows how I threaded the dowel with 1 1/4″ x 8 threads to match those on the face plate.  Thanks to Al Hockenbery for the advice he gave me on the AAW forum.

The first step was to measure the large diameter of the threads on my lathe.  Strangely enough that came to 1 1/4″.  Who would have guessed that!  Now I know why it is called a 1 1/4″ x 8 thread!

I then rounded a piece of scrap wood between centersto the same diameter, tapering one end slightly.

Then, using the faceplate that I had dedicated to my donut chuck, I cut threads in the dowel.  Tapering the end of the dowel helped a lot in getting the threads started.  I also found that reducing the overall diameter of the dowel from 1 1/4″ helped as well.  Once I had done this, screwing the dowel into the face plate and cutting the threads, was a lot easier.  Making the dowel about 8 to 10″ long also helped as it gave me a decent place to grip with both hands.  The threads did not look as good as those on a metal bolt, nor were they as deep, but they worked just fine.

Once that was done I mounted the dowel in a chuck and predrilled a hole for the screw that was going to be used to attach the dowel to the plywood.

Measured to length and parted the dowel off.

Not trusting the holding power of a screw into plywood, I put some wood glue on the back of the dowel before screwing it to the plywood partition.  I was concerned that when I unscrewed the donut chuck from it’s new resting place, that the screw holding the dowel on would unscrew from the plywood.  Here is a shot of the threaded dowel mounted.

A shot of the donut chuck screwed onto the dowel.  I made the dowel about 2 1/2″ long, giving me room to hang the front section of the donut chuck on the dowel as well.

Excited with my new threading abilities, I made some more threaded dowels, and decorated the wall with my sanding disc and my vacuum chucks as well.  I was surprised how well the wooden face plates on the vacuum chucks threaded onto the wooden threaded dowel.  They actually threaded on easier than the metal faceplate on the back of the donut chuck.   I did find that a dab of paste wax on the threads helped lubricate them.

Related posts:

1. Make a Donut Chuck
2. Center Finder
3. Chuck Reversing Adapter

A chuck reversing adapter is used to take a turning that is mounted in a chuck on the headstock and rotate it and mount it on the tail stock so that you can align or center it correctly while mounting on a vacuum chuck or donut chuck prior to finishing the bottom of the piece.  Or to put it more simply, it is a piece of metal with a morse taper on one side and a thread on the other that matches your chuck.

I normally don’t have any problems reversing a vessel with a wide rim, especially when using my donut chuck.   However, for pieces with a narrow rim, like hollow forms, I have been struggling with alignment when reversing.   The chuck reversing adapter has solved that.  The following pictures illustrate how it is used.

Here is a hollow form that I’ve finished hollowing and am now ready to reverse and finish off the bottom.  Without removing the piece from the chuck, I unscrew the chuck from the headstock and set it aside.

I then mount the back piece of my donut chuck to the headstock.  You can see in the above image that I have attached a piece of scrap wood to the center and have turned it to a cone shape.  Then I attached a couple of pieces of self adhesive fun foam.  This cone will go into the mouth of the hollow form.

I then mounted the chuck reversing adapter into the tail stock and threaded the chuck onto it.  Note, the chuck reversing adapter is not a live center!  It does not rotate in the tail stock as it has no bearings.  It is a temporary method to hold the chuck in the tail stock in alignment with the headstock.  Don’t start the lathe with it in place, you’ll ruin your whole day!

The tail stock was then slid forward till the workpiece was almost touching the donut chuck.  Then I locked the tail stock in place and advanced the spindle using the hand wheel until the workpiece was snug against the donut chuck, taking care not to crush it.  The front piece of the donut chuck was then secured in place with the bolts.

I then loosened the chuck on the tenon of the hollow form, and withdrew the tail stock.  The donut chuck held the piece securely and correctly aligned.

I then put a live center in the tail stock and brought it up to the work piece in order to turn the bulk of the tenon off, leaving just a small nub.  It’s a good practice to support the work piece whenever you can using the tail stock.

The last little nub was removed with the tail stock out of the way and then the bottom of the piece was sanded.

Related posts:

1. Make a Donut Chuck
2. Vacuum Chuck
3. Center Finder

I have a set of forstner bits and they go from 1/4″ to 2 1/8″ diameter, in 1/8″ increments.  I figured that while I was busy making the gauge, I might as well go ahead and include all these diameters.

I used a piece of 1/4″ hardboard.  It was thicker than my parting tool, so I ran it through my drum sander a couple of times until it was just slightly thinner than my parting tool.  This is probably not necessary for most applications, but I thought it may be useful occasionally when I wanted to make a parting cut in the middle of a piece and not have to widen it in order to insert the gauge.

Then I drew two lines down each side of the hardboard, just over one inch from each edge.  I set my drill fence so the center of the forstner bit was positioned over one of the lines.  Then, using a scrap piece of wood as a backer board,  I started drilling holes, from big to small, down one side and up the other side.

When all the holes were drilled, I set my table saw fence to the line I had previously drawn, and with two passes, cut all the circles in half.

The gauge now hangs within easy reach of my lathe and is perfect for sizing tenons and checking spindle diameters.  A quick, easy and cheap solution that makes my work flow at the lathe easier

If you have a hint or tip feel free to share in the comments section.

Related posts:

1. Turning a hollow sphere
2. Make a Donut Chuck
3. Making a Board Game on the lathe

I finally got a chance to play with the chatter tool I made.  My initial experiments were pretty disappointing.   The tool was “screeching” as it is supposed to, but I only seemed to be able to put spiral grooves on the test piece.   My first thought was that the blade was not thick enough and I was getting too much “deflection” and not enough “chatter”.  I had used on old jigsaw blade, so I took an old sawzall blade and cut and shaped that.  Even though it was wider, and offer less give, I was still just getting spiral grooves.

So I took the two blades back to the grinder and ground a very slight bevel on the edges.  More importantly I rounded over the point of the blade so that instead of coming to a sharp point it came to a blunt, slightly round point.   Immediately I started to see improvements!  Both the jig saw blade and the sawzall blade worked great, although they did produce different patterns.

There are no shortage of patterns you can get with the chatter tool.  Whether any of them are repeatable is open to debate though!  A number of variables affect the pattern.

• The amount of the blade sticking out the tool.
• The distance from the tool rest to the work piece.
• The speed of the lathe.
• How hard you push the tool into the work piece.
• How quickly you move the cutting edge across the work piece.
• How many times you move the cutting edge across the work piece.
• The angle the cutting edge is presented.

The image below shows some examples.  I colored the patterns with a black permanent marker so they would show better in the image.

A chatter tool is used primarily in end grain, so applications include embellishments on box lids, spinning tops etc.  The chatter tool will work better on hardwoods than softwoods.

After spending an hour or so playing with the tool, I feel the most important variables are lathe speed and distance of the tool rest from the work piece.  For the most part the tool is presented so that the blade is horizontal and the handle is closer to you than the blade.   The tool rest is about 4 to 6″ from the workpiece and lathe speed is around 1000 rpm.  The blade is pushed into the wood and then pulled from the center to the edge.  Rotating the tool slightly counter clockwise will change the pattern achieved, but it will also cause the tool to move towards the edge of the work piece a lot faster!!  I found lathe speeds between 750 and 1800 worked with an optimum range between 1000 and 1200.

Related posts:

1. Homemade Chatter Tool
2. Woodchuck Lathe Tool
3. Making a Tool Handle – Part One

I got a 1/2″ x 10″ nipple from the plumbing department at the home improvement store, along with a 3/4″ long 1/4 20 bolt.  The rest of the materials I used were in the shop already including a used jigsaw blade.

I mounted the pipe between centers on the lathe and after a bit of sanding it was nice and shiny.  I then cut the threads off one end and drilled and tapped a 1/4 20 thread about 3/4″ back from that end.

The next step was to mount a cherry pen blank in a chuck and turn it down to 1/2″ so that if fit inside the pipe.   I only turned down the first couple of inches, and then put it in a vise and cut it lengthwise.   This off cut was then glued into the pipe with CA glue, the bolt served as a clamp.

After turning the block of wood to be used as a handle round, I drilled it to fit the the OD of the pipe.  Unfortunately, the OD of the pipe was around 13/16″ and the only forstner bits I had were 3/4″ and 7/8″.  So I drilled with the 3/4″ and then widened the hole using a square edge scraper until the pipe fit inside.  The image below show the handle shaped and sanded, just prior to being parted off.

I’m playing with dyes at the moment, so I applied a red dye to the handle and then a couple of coats of shellac.  While I was waiting for the shellac to dry, I ground the teeth off the jigsaw blade, shaped the point of the blade and bent it as in the image below.

The completed tool, ready for testing!  Did I mention how nice and shiny it is!

I’ll show some pictures in a future post of the results from the tool.  I also have a couple more jig saw blades and some sawzall blades.  I plan on experimenting a bit with the different blades and profiles and see what sort of results I get.

If you’ve made a chatter tool let me know what type of blade and profile you got the best results with by posting a comment.   Thanks.

Update:  I got a chance to experiment with the chatter tool and have posted some images and comments.  You can view that post here.

Related posts:

1. Chatter Tool Results
2. Making a Tool Handle – Part Three
3. Handle for new tool

I got some much needed shop time on Labor Day afternoon and decided to get some practice with the McNaughton Center Saver I recently purchased. They say it is a bit of a learning curve, and they were right! It felt like a full contact sport at times, but I managed to core three bowls out of a blank. The largest bowl is 12″ by 4″. I’m sure someone experienced with the system would have got more bowls, but I was satisfied with my results.

First attempt at coring with the McNaughton Center Saver

I’m not sure what the wood is. I think it might be red oak. I found the log on a job site a couple of months ago. It was still green and stained my hands black while I was working with it.

Once I set the McNaughton system up the first thing I noticed was I was not able to set the tool rest low enough in the holder to line the cutting edge with the lathe center. I had to cut about 1/4″ off the bottom of the tool post. It’s a bit difficult to put into words any observations on my first use of the tool. It feels like I was holding on for the ride and didn’t really have time to take notes! One thing that did take me by surprise was how wide a kerf it cuts, every bit of 3/8″ inch. This isn’t a parting tool cut. There were moments when it felt like things were going very smooth and the tool was just gliding into the wood as advertised. Unfortunately, those moments were interrupted with regular catches and the occasional shriek as the metal rubbed against the wood.

I plan to watch my DVD again, now that I have some hands on experience with the tool. I’m sure I will pick up some things I missed the first time around. Overall, I’m pleased with the tool and feel confident my technique will improve. In the meantime I have set the three bowls aside to dry before final turning.

Related posts:

1. McNaughton Center Saver
2. Center Finder
3. “Captured” hollowing system with laser

McNaughton Center Saver

McNaughton Center Saver

One of the things that has always frustrated me about turning a bowl has been the pile of shavings left on the floor.   It has always struck me as such a waste of resources and potential.  By using a center saver you are able to core multiple bowls out of one bowl blank.  The system should pay for itself quickly with the wood that is saved from ending up on the shop floor as shavings.  Even with free wood there are advantages as it allows you to get more than one bowl out of a blank, increasing the number of bowls available for sale or gifts.  In theory it is possible to get a bowl for every inch of the blank thickness, so a five inch thick blank could yield as many as 5 bowls.  There are also a number of possibilities the system opens up including nested bowls.

There are three main systems on the market.  The McNaughton Center Saver, the Oneway Easy-Core and the Woodcut Bowlsaver.  Each has advantages and disadvantages.  After a lot on research on the internet, forums and talking to turners in my club, I chose the McNaughton Center Saver for the following reasons:

• While everyone seemed to feel the McNaughton had the steepest learning curve of the three systems, most agreed that it offered the most versatility of the three.
• I liked the fact that the system was expandable.  McNaughton offers three different size blade combination’s.  The mini will core bowls up to 10″ diameter, the standard will core bowls from 12″ to 16″ diameter and the jumbo will handle bowls from 16″ to 20″.   Each system comes with three curved blades and a straight blade.
• A laser guide is available for the McNaughton which helps you to see the path of the blade and prevents you going through the side or bottom of the blank.
• While not the cheapest set, it was considerably cheaper than the Oneway Easy-Core.
• The straight blade afforded the option of parting off platters as well coring vase type blanks.

There are a number of DVD’s available on the use of the McNaughton.  I purchased one from Reed Gray.  you can contact him via the Woodturner’s Resource.  Mike Mahoney and Bill Grumbine also have DVD’s available but I have not seen those yet.

Here are some more links on the various bowl coring systems:

• Using the Kelton Center Saver to make Nested Bowl Sets
• Coring out Bowls with the Kel McNaughton Coring Tool
• Bowl Saving – A comprehensive discussion
• Coring is not for the faint of heart The opening paragraphs of this PDF are hilarious!

Related posts:

1. First attempt at coring with the McNaughton Center Saver
2. Lidded Bowl
3. Ebonized Cherry Bowl

It is pretty simple to build and you can probably figure it out from the following images.  The important thing is to build the supporting box so that the cutting tip is right at center of the lathe.

"Captured" hollowing system with laser

"Captured" hollowing system with laser

"Captured" hollowing system with laser

"Captured" hollowing system with laser

I had the tool and cutter.  It is from an old Monster Hollowing Tool that I got used from someone on an online forum.  My only other cost was $20 for the laser pen.  The rest was built using scrap plywood, wood and hardware that I had around the workshop.

Of course, as often happens, once you build something and play with it awhile, you realize how you could have built it better.  It would have been to much to expect to get it perfect on version 1.0

I think if I had to do it again, and I probably will as it is pretty easy, I would redo the following:

1. Use a different type of wood for the tool holder.  I used a chunk of cedar which is probably not ideal, but that is what I had on hand.   I’d like to get a 2x6x12” piece of mesquite.
2. Use 3/8” threaded inserts instead of ¼-20 knock in inserts.
3. Use 3/8” threaded rod for the laser system instead of ¼-20 threaded rod.  It wobbles a little bit but is still steady enough to do the job.

Related posts:

1. Hollow Form
2. Laser Cut Pen Kits
3. Al Hockenbery Demo

Work on the vacuum pump went smoothly. I built a small cart on wheels to situate the pump on. The wheels make it very easy to move around my workshop. I attached the air filter and relief valve to the side of the cart. The relief valve allows me to release the vacuum or to reduce it. A vacuum gauge shows me how much of a vacuum I am pulling.

You can click on any of the images to see a larger version.

The next step was to build a rotary adapter. This part of the project did not go very smoothly unfortunately. I built three different rotary adapters. They were pretty easy to make and in theory should have worked. The first one I made out of some scrap cherry. I made the mistake of using a quick connect fitting, which proved to be to bulky. The adapter also leaked. The next two attempts were made from a block of resin I poured using a 2″ PVC pipe as a mold. I used a barbed hose fitting this time. They look very cool, but again both of them leaked. I’m not sure what I was doing wrong, I’m pretty sure that in all three attempts the leak was at the bearing. I was using double sealed bearings, but they still leaked. Here is a picture of my attempts.

Frustrated, I decided that I would simply buy a rotary adapter, and brought the Holdfast Vacuum Adapter. Strangely enough it worked right out of the box.

Building the vacuum chucks was fairly simple. I brought 4 different size PVC couplers, 1″, 2″, 3″ and 4″. From some hard maple I used my spindle tap and tapped a 1 1/4″ x 8 tpi thread in the block. I then threaded it on the lathe spindle and turned it round and true. Then I glued a piece of 3/4″ MDF to the block. Once the glue was dried I mounted it on the lathe, turned the MDF round and then cut a groove to accept the PVC coupler. Using 5 minute epoxy I glued the coupler to the MDF. Once the epoxy was dry I mounted it back on the lathe and trued up the PVC coupler. They just needed a light touch as they were running pretty true. While it was on the lathe I also drilled a hole through the center of the MDF to allow the air to escape. I smeared a thin coat of Titebond glue on all the surfaces of the MDF and when that dried coated it with lacquer to reduce the porosity of the material. Lastly I stuck some adhesive backed foam on the PVC coupler. I still plan on making another vacuum chuck using a 6″ PVC coupler.

Of course I couldn’t resist starting the vacuum pump and sticking all sorts of things to the vacuum chuck. It was amazing how strong it holds. There also seemed to be a wide range of vacuum that I was able to pull, depending on the size and material. I’m looking forward to using it on a bowl.

Related posts:

1. Vacuum Pump
2. Chuck Reversing Adapter
3. Dust Collector

You can click on any of the images to see a larger version.

Related posts:

1. Making a Tool Handle – Part Three
2. Making a Tool Handle – Part One
3. Making a Tool Handle – Part Two