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"Green turning" platter stock

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Out of a huge bunch of big-leaf maple gifted to me by step-son, there are several cut-offs that would make nice platters, not thick enough for bowls. Also not thick enough for a tenon.:p Any tips on using a recess on green wood and having things work out in the long- and the short-run? Nothing bigger than 11" diameter (and most in the 8"-10" range). At the Wirsing workshop, using dry wood, the recesses were very shallow, which would be handy in this situation.
 

john lucas

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The recess's don't have to be that deep to work in green wood but if you twice turn them you will have to true up the recess. They will warp into a curve depending on where and how you cut them from the log. I'm still pretty inexperienced at doing green twice turned platters so I leave them extra thick. I have had some checking on the end grain so I try to make them extra large so I can remove that later.
 
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Jamie,

I have done a few platters in the past with the same issue, I cut the recess and shaped the platter and let it dry.
Remounted the dry platter via the recess mount and glued a tenon on the opposite side in the center.
After the tenon dries, you remount the platter and turn the recess round again and add your details to the recess
and finish sanding that side. Remount the platter via the recess and turn the tenon off and finish turning and sanding the interior of the platter. If you have a deep enough platter you can skip the tenon and just turn a shallow recess on the opposite side and finish turning the interior of the platter after you have cleaned up the
recess on the back side of the platter.
 

hockenbery

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I would use a glue block rather than a recess.

I would make the glue block first using any fairly dry hardwood about 2" thick.
I have one from walnut on a dedicated faceplate I've used for about 50 NE bowls
Lyle Jamieson has nice video on making a glueblock.
http://aawvideosource.org/php/link.php?t=video_detail&f=link&i=81

Then I would mount the platter on a worm screw in the chuck with a 1/2" deep hole
I would use a plywood spacer ( small square with a hole in the middle) so that the worm screw stick out a bit less than 1/2"
I would turn the bottom of the platter and make the mounting area for the glue block.
Lyle has a nice video on prepping the surface. This is same way to prep the surface for a faceplate as in the video for making the glueblock. Shallow concave ensures a good contact with the outer edge of the faceplate.
http://aawvideosource.org/php/link.php?t=video_detail&f=link&i=165

Mount the glue block as shown in the first video. One thing I do here that isn't clear in the video is to twist the glueblock a little as it makes contact. This helps spread out the glue.
Turn the top of the platter. Need to finish this before the wood moves and breaks the gluenjoint.
You have at least 2 hours.
Remove the glueblock with a flat chisel aimed at the glueline
Light taps in one or two spots will fracture the glue.

To return reverse chuck with the center point out of the live center and either cut a recess or use the glueblock.


videos can be found using the search feature at
aawvideosource.org Category- chucks&centers Keyword-glue block
 
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I like Hockenbery's ideas.
Alternatively, why not seal the ends of the blanks and let them stabilize for a year? You say that they "not thick enough for bowls", so the stabilizing might not take too long.
 
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Well, best blanks for platters are quarter sawn, meaning cut straight through the center of the log. You can get a center blank, and one to either side, then warping becomes critical. If you start at the top of a log and just slice it in slabs till you get the bottom, the ones near the top need to be turned with the center of the log side down because the edges will curl up. If you turn it the other direction, like we do for bowls, then the edges turn down and your platter gets a lot shallower. I will see if I can find the clip...

Aha! it is in the last minute of the clip:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G67QCIOihv0


robo hippy
 
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What would I do with a blank that is thin and I don’t want to loose any wood for a tenon (which I hardly ever use) ??

I guess reading Hockenbery’s post is about the same as how I do it, and have done a time or two.

Turn a 2” or so round block with two flat faces, then hold the blank with either short screws on a faceplate or held in my Mega jumbo jaws.

I would then cut a recess about 1/16” deep, (yes that’s not enough for holding with a chuck), and just the size for that block to fit into it and be centered, slightly concave gives you room for the CA you are going to use to glue the block into the blank, finish turn the bottom of the blank and sand now, then glue the block in.

Use enough CA in the blank and spray some accelerator on the block, yes twist the block when you place the block into the recess and in a couple of minutes you can turn the top and finish it.

Mount the piece in your chuck and adjust it so it doesn’t wobble, tighten and start turning.

When done, give the tenon a sharp rapp, it usually does come out/off like that, otherwise I remount in my Mega jumbo jaws and turn the tenon away.

Of course if you want to clean that recess up, you’ll either have to remount it or sand it to your satisfaction
 
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Thanks, all, I'm swimming in wet wood and chainsaw oil at the moment, but when I get through all this maple and cherry, I will read through this thread carefully!
 
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