Interrupted work on the vacuum chuck

[Gary Beasley]

Theres been many times I have a piece turned around on my vacuum chuck working on turning off the tenon and sanding. More often than not Ill get tired or have some other distraction to take care of and I dont want to leave the pump running for extended periods unattended. Most times I can run my tail stock up tight to the work and shut the pump off without loosing position but if Ive sanded to finish and have wiped a penetrating finish on and need to leave it to dry I dont want to mark it up with metal contact or poke a hole in it otherwise. I found a golf ball placed over the center hole on the tail stock hardly makes any marks when used to hold the work in place.

 

[George Kuipers]

Nice tip, but I don't play golf.

 

[Russ Braun]

Nice tip Gary! What’s the compression on that ball, haha!!

 

[Tom Kuzia]

Thanks for the tip!
Do you use the vacuum chuck on segmented pieces as well?
Tom

 

[Gary Beasley]

Never tried it on a segmented piece. Most of my segmented vessels were made for an expansion grip in a ring base and was left as is after the outside was finished.

 

[Tom Kuzia]

Never tried it on a segmented piece. Most of my segmented vessels were made for an expansion grip in a ring base and was left as is after the outside was finished.

Thanks Gary.
I was wondering if the vacuum would leak through the segmented glue joints.
Tom

 

[Gary Beasley]

Thanks Gary.
I was wondering if the vacuum would leak through the segmented glue joints.
Tom

If the joint is tight with enough glue I doubt you would have much in the way of leakage. How that would affect your operation depends on the cfm rating on your pump. The higher the cfm the more leakage you can tolerate before it gets so bad it is in danger of letting go. My 15cfm pump does me quite well with about anything I throw at it. 1 to 5 cfm pumps are way more common.

 

[Tom Gall]

poke a hole in it otherwise. I found a golf ball placed over the center hole on the tail stock hardly makes any marks when used to hold the work in place.View attachment 38604

Gary, good solution...but, what you describe and what you show in the photo seems contradictory. To use as shown you need a threaded MT adapter (live or dead) to attach the chuck. This can be accomplished simply by putting the golf ball against the hole in the quill and your piece. Many other options are possible.

 

[Gary Beasley]

Obviously the chuck is mounted to such an adaptor to my Oneway live center. Anything on the tailstock with a centered hole, chuck-live center-bare tailstock, works because you are not running the lathe.

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

I do not have a pic but I made a soft touch from a HDMW rod and threaded it to fit live center. This works quite well but with any of these devices you do have to watch the pressure used in tailstock. The smaller the area of compression the more likely you will get a compressed area in the wood.

 

[GRJensen]

I just slip a 3/4" white rubber furniture leg tip on my live center and apply gentle pressure. Most home centers/hardware stores sell a 4-pack of these for about $2.

 

[Mark Jundanian]

I have used a face plate, but I like Gary's idea for a smaller contact. And it's a better use for my golf balls.

 

[Gary Beasley]

If the golf balls are still too hard and the texture transfers to the bowl swap it out for a smooth hard rubber ball. Tennis ball may work as well, I just dont have those laying around.

 

[Dave Hulett]

I use a tennis ball

 

[Mark Jundanian]

@Gary Beasley , a variation on your tip, but it saved the day.

I mistakenly started to drill a hole for the screw chuck on bottom of the block rather than the top face. Didn't go so deep as to be a design problem, but deep enough to form a very secure seat for any of my cone centers. Unfortunately the hole in the base was also very slightly off center so the cone live centers were all being yanked back and forth stressing the bearings.

I remembered your post and sure enough the golf ball introduces enough give so the live center can live to be live another day.

Thanks for the tip.