Mounting stool seats

[chuck van dyck]

Howdy!

I got a question for you fine folk. I've turned a number of stools now and I'm very happy with the outcome. The one place I'd like to improve is getting the seat to mount a little more flush to the chuck. I know that I could use a face plate and I have, but I prefer plugging the larger hole rather than plugging I forget how many holes it is with the face plate. I typically will just cover the wood worm screw hole but cutting a larger hole with a 1" forstner bit then with a 1" plug cutter find a nice contrasting wood and throw that in there, which is where my mark goes.

Okay, back to the issue. When I mount with a face plate, it obviously just registers right off that flat surface and you can tune up the sides and you're good to go. With the wormwood screw, I can never seem to get truly flush. I've made some washers out of poplar to give myself a bit more contact but I still get a pretty wobbly blank when first mounted. My design has a pretty long/shallow bevel on the back so I can get rid of a bit of it that way before truing up the sides and face. After turning the seat I will often send it through the drum sander or planer and that gets everything parallel. The issue with this method is I don't get true concentric circle(is that the right term?!). I end up with isometric? ellipse? I dunno the word, lets say uneven bevels.

Is there a way to mount a blank that I know is dead flat with parallel faces dead flush to the chuck with a wood worm screw?

Hope this makes at lease some sense.

[tom lucas]

It's only going to be as flat as your work piece is flat.

Have you considered turner's tape instead of screws? No holes at all. That is how I make round picture frames and other flat round things when working with thinner stock that I don't want holes in it.

A vacuum chuck might work too, if you have enough thickness for a spigot or tenon. Cut the tenon first. Mount to chuck. Flatten and shape. Reverse onto a vacuum chuck and remove the tenon. Or maybe just leave the tenon on the bottom as a "design feature"?

[Timothy Thorpe Allen]

Have you tried running your seat blank through your drum sander or planer *before* you turn it?

What size jaws are you using with the wood worm screw in your chuck? Have you tried using jaws with a larger diameter circle?

[chuck van dyck]

It's only going to be as flat as your work piece is flat.

Have you considered turner's tape instead of screws? No holes at all. That is how I make round picture frames and other flat round things when working with thinner stock that I don't want holes in it.

A vacuum chuck might work too, if you have enough thickness for a spigot or tenon. Cut the tenon first. Mount to chuck. Flatten and shape. Reverse onto a vacuum chuck and remove the tenon. Or maybe just leave the tenon on the bottom as a "design feature"?

Tom, thanks for the tip. I haven't tried tape but I'd like to. I only recently became aware of this technique. I have a roll of fast cap and that stuff is strooooong. Not gonna lie though, it still freaks me out a bit. I work in a group shop and the lathe lives right in front of a big window. I might have to toss a sheet of ply over said window on my first go around. I'm assuming you make a wooden face plate that you mount in the chuck. How do you make it reusable? Only thing I can think of is make a faceplate with a tenon out of say hardwood with a piece of baltic bitch screwed to it. Bore some mounting holes in the ply so it becomes reusable and then back screw a sacrificial piece of ply to this which gets the tape? Is there a smarter way?

[chuck van dyck]

Have you tried running your seat blank through your drum sander or planer *before* you turn it?

What size jaws are you using with the wood worm screw in your chuck? Have you tried using jaws with a larger diameter circle?

I have and do send my blank through the planer prior to turning as I typically joint a few pieces fo the seat. I don't think the issue is my blank being flat, it's that I have a hard time mounting true using a wood worm screw. I guess I should check with a square off the chuck sometime. Never occurred to me to do that until now.

I have a pretty small set of check jaws. Not sure on exact size but its probably whatever the cheapest option Oneway sells is. I think they're called the talon or something. To remedy the small jaws I have large washers that give a much larger contact area, as well as lessen the amount that the screw needs to penetrate the workpiece.

Do you think larger jaws are the answer?

[chuck van dyck]

Tom, thanks for the tip. I haven't tried tape but I'd like to. I only recently became aware of this technique. I have a roll of fast cap and that stuff is strooooong. Not gonna lie though, it still freaks me out a bit. I work in a group shop and the lathe lives right in front of a big window. I might have to toss a sheet of ply over said window on my first go around. I'm assuming you make a wooden face plate that you mount in the chuck. How do you make it reusable? Only thing I can think of is make a faceplate with a tenon out of say hardwood with a piece of baltic bitch screwed to it. Bore some mounting holes in the ply so it becomes reusable and then back screw a sacrificial piece of ply to this which gets the tape? Is there a smarter way?

OH WAIT! I just need to screw a block to the faceplate, duh!

[Timothy Thorpe Allen]

I have a pretty small set of check jaws. Not sure on exact size but its probably whatever the cheapest option Oneway sells is. I think they're called the talon or something. To remedy the small jaws I have large washers that give a much larger contact area, as well as lessen the amount that the screw needs to penetrate the workpiece.

Do you think larger jaws are the answer?

What are your washers made of?

How are you drilling the hole for the woodworm screw? On a drill press? Make sure your table is square (all the way around) to the bit and quill. If by hand, set up a couple of squares (in two directions) so as to make sure you're drilling square to the seat...

I would get the #3 jaws for the original Oneway (tommy-bar) chuck (they will fit the Talon chuck body, too) -- They are significantly larger than the #2 jaws that come standard with the Oneway or Talon chuck (and larger than the #3 jaws designed for the Talon chuck) -- the larger diameter will give you a much better bearing surface for your seat, with or without your washer. The larger the diameter of the bearing surface, the easier it will be to see if your blank is seated properly and running true with the chuck.

Another thing to check might be to make sure that the spindle adapter for your chuck is properly seated, and that chuck itself is running true. Lastly, you might check whether or not your lathe spindle itself is running true?

Just some thoughts.... Good Luck!

[tom lucas]

Tom, thanks for the tip. I haven't tried tape but I'd like to. I only recently became aware of this technique. I have a roll of fast cap and that stuff is strooooong. Not gonna lie though, it still freaks me out a bit. I work in a group shop and the lathe lives right in front of a big window. I might have to toss a sheet of ply over said window on my first go around. I'm assuming you make a wooden face plate that you mount in the chuck. How do you make it reusable? Only thing I can think of is make a faceplate with a tenon out of say hardwood with a piece of baltic bitch screwed to it. Bore some mounting holes in the ply so it becomes reusable and then back screw a sacrificial piece of ply to this which gets the tape? Is there a smarter way?

Don't be afraid of the turner's tape (Spectape 555H136), if applied and clamped for 10 minutes or so before turning, you'd have to have a very big catch to knock it loose. Don't bring it all the way to the edges. This leaves a gap to get a putty knife under it to pry it loose. And take your time, working all the around toward the center, when taking it off. I've actually cracked pieces by being impatient and trying to pry it to aggressively.

Yes sacrificial plywood backing board attached to a face plate or homemade plate using a Beale tap, or even one that clamps into chuck jaws. I've been using the same 12" backing board for several projects (it wat 15" to start with). If you are careful you can cut right to it without cutting into it. If you use solid wood instead of plywood, you can reface it between turnings. And sometimes you can use a backing disc smaller than the cut diameter. Then you won't touch the backing board at all. That should work for seat bottoms, I'd guess.

While tape will work, and certainly it has it's place, it's a bit timing consuming. A mortise cut between centers, would be far faster and cost nothing in consumables. A mortise is also far shallower (~1/8") than a worm screw. And it also can be a decorative feature, giving you a place to sign the work.

[Reed Gray]

I do have a video up on how to mount things on the lathe, which may help. I doubt that I have ever had a piece mount up perfectly true. I would compare it to cutting out a round blank and then using face plate, worm screw, or expand chuck into forstner bit hole, there is always some sideways run out. That is just 'because'. If you have a piece of wood that has been run through a planer and/or drum sander, I wouldn't be concerned about a 1/16 inch run out. If you have 1/4 inch run out, then there is a significant error some where.

As for a waste block on a bowl blank for using a face plate, NEVER use plywood. One good catch, and some times no catch at all, and the plywood will come apart. Use solid wood. That is some thing I show in my video. Cabinet grade/apple ply/baltic birch plywood may be a bit better, but I would never trust it.

robo hippy

[chuck van dyck]

Don't be afraid of the turner's tape (Spectape 555H136), if applied and clamped for 10 minutes or so before turning, you'd have to have a very big catch to knock it loose. Don't bring it all the way to the edges. This leaves a gap to get a putty knife under it to pry it loose. And take your time, working all the around toward the center, when taking it off. I've actually cracked pieces by being impatient and trying to pry it to aggressively.

Yes sacrificial plywood backing board attached to a face plate or homemade plate using a Beale tap, or even one that clamps into chuck jaws. I've been using the same 12" backing board for several projects (it wat 15" to start with). If you are careful you can cut right to it without cutting into it. If you use solid wood instead of plywood, you can reface it between turnings. And sometimes you can use a backing disc smaller than the cut diameter. Then you won't touch the backing board at all. That should work for seat bottoms, I'd guess.

While tape will work, and certainly it has it's place, it's a bit timing consuming. A mortise cut between centers, would be far faster and cost nothing in consumables. A mortise is also far shallower (~1/8") than a worm screw. And it also can be a decorative feature, giving you a place to sign the work.

I see now, yes. I will have to give tape a shot. Although I agree, turning a mortise between centers would be ideal, but I've never thought to do that. I like a pretty slim stool seat at around 1" so I'm usually starting with 5/4 material. I usually make 12" x 1 1/4" blanks. Not sure how I would safely turn this between centers...is this possible?!

I have noticed some use a second washer over the jaws of the chuck as well I one in front that screws on to the wood worm. I only have a 1/4" one made of poplar that screws over the wood worm screw. I'll try making one that registers against the chuck body as well and see if that helps. I did drop my chuck once, but when it is turned alone it seems to run true by eye, but I do understand any little discrepancy is gonna be exaggerated 6" out. I'll have to inspect further.

Robo Hippy, I've always found your videos very informative so I'll take a look for this one you've mentioned! In the end, I am okay with embracing some imperfections, but it's just frustrating because I don't know why it's happening. If "just because" is the issue, I may have to learn to live with it.

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[Dan Hunkele]

You could mount plywood (or other) to the face plate close to the size of the seat and mount the seat to the plywood with screws conveniently located to where the leg holes will be drilled.

[David Walser]

Chuck -- You've received some good advice. In addition to using double-sided tape, another option is to use hot melt glue. Hot melt glue produces a strong bond that can easily be released with heat or alcohol. It's cheap, quick, and effective.