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Questions about Dovetail Faceplate Rings for Scroll Chucks

Al Chavez

Al Chavez

Joined
Jan 13, 2021
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I've just bought a couple of 3" and a couple of 6" dovetail rings for my nova chuck. I have only ever made greenwood bowls once turned and allowed to warp while drying. I would like to try twice turning some pieces to elimanate the warping that occurs while the wood stablizes.

Are the rings used to rough turn pieces and left in place while the wood stablizes? I know it may be 6 months or much longer for it to stablize.
This seems like it would be a method to easily remount the piece after it has dried and warped.

My concern is would the screws used to fasten the ring to the blank cause stress and potential cracks into the bowl as it dries. I am leaning towards removing the rings after rough turning and centering the bowls using other methods for the 2nd turning now.

The idea of leaving the rings on the blanks is why I bought the rings but if I am wrong about using them this way I have another question.

How do you use rings?
I have a few ideas beyond turning multiple pieces in a session and swapping them out on the same chuck. I think they would be useful for D.I.Y. jigs.
I know that some use them for the convenience of not having to remove the chuck or ease of mounting the piece to the chuck (versus holding it up and threading it on the spindle).

Any other uses for rings that I am missing?
 
On a lot of woods you have a strong possibility of a chemical reaction and black stains on the wet blanks if you leave the rings on, When I second turn, I make sure there is a center mark left on the bottom of the tenon before I remove the blank to do the inside. This is one locating mark for the second turn. I also use a vacuum chuck, without using a vacuum, to friction drive the dried blank from the inside. That lets me true up the tenon and allows the chuck to grab a new tenon for returning the bowl.
 
It seems that when the wood moves it may tear away from the screws, or bend the ring. I would think the screws would stain the the wood.

I use faceplates, sometimes for starting a first turning, attached to what will be the top of the bowl. After that it‘s done with a chuck. No faceplate, no rings. I surely would want screws into the bottom of a piece!
 
I never even considered them when I first saw them. I mount almost all of my bowls by drilling an proper sized recess with a forstner bit. I can leave green blanks for weeks and the recess still fits. I also never have to use screws.

robo hippy
 
Thanks for the replies.
I hadn't considered the chemical reaction to the metal. Also thanks for the tip on the center mark in the tenon. I have a set of forstner bits and bought a single bit that is 2 1/8 that I can try that technique.
So it looks like leaving the rings on beyond a session is a bad idea.

How else do turners use the rings?
I'm thinking now dedicated rings for kiln dried home made jigs. Any other suggestions?
Thanks
Al
 
Al Chavez said:
Thanks for the replies.
So it looks like leaving the rings on beyond a session is a bad idea.

How else do turners use the rings?
I'm thinking now dedicated rings for kiln dried home made jigs. Any other suggestions?
Thanks
Al
Click to expand...
I would not normally leave a faceplate on green wood over night.

The rings are sort of a substitute for a faceplate so anything you use a faceplate for except maybe a vacuum chuck.
Great for a disc sanders you can make from MDF or plywood and use psa discs on them.


For twice turned bowls hard to beat a tenon. So easy to true for finish turning.
 
I use a 3” ring. I screw it to the top of the bowl. I get the outside turned including a tenon on the bottom. I put the tenon in the Chuck, remove the ring and rough turn the inside. Then I green wood seal the whole bowl and set it on a shelf.
 
robo hippy said:
I never even considered them when I first saw them. I mount almost all of my bowls by drilling an proper sized recess with a forstner bit. I can leave green blanks for weeks and the recess still fits. I also never have to use screws.

robo hippy
Click to expand...
I used to always use a mortise for rough turned bowls. The problem I had was bowls cracking in half because of the outward pressure when I would finish turn them. Maybe I cranked the Chuck down more than it needed to be. I only use a tenon now .
 
I have some face plates but rarely use them for mounting work anymore. Turning between center s 1st allows realignment during initial roughing, and then a tenon for a chuck. The tenon is easily trued after drying, just leave an extra 1/4-1/2” dia of tenon as they can warp quite a bit.
 
For twice turned bowls, if I did them, I would use a tenon. With a recess, you can over tighten the chuck. some times it can actually crack the bowl, some times you can make it tight enough that just a tiny catch can make it split. I get it 'snug' but not tight. I am on the Brute Squad, for fans of The Princess Bride, and can break things without trying too hard. When sanding out my warped bowls, I use a 4 jaw chuck with pin jaws. I am only spinning at about 15 rpm, and use very light drill pressure. Don't hand sand.

robo hippy
 
I do use faceplates for mounting larger pieces of wood, I can see where you could use a ring rather than the faceplate, but I use the faceplate only for the top side, the screw holes are turned away, now there was a time before wood chucks as we know them now, where the blank was screwed onto the faceplate after turning the outside and then turned the inside after that, either hold in a jamb chuck and turn the screw holes away or as I usually did, glue felt to the bottom.

I still have one I made better than 60 years ago, Teak bowl with the felt on the bottom, I just now made a picture of it.

Old Teak bowl.jpg

I could easily return it, but would get a really thin bottom, so I'll leave it like it is.

The way to use screws on the bottom, you do put two in the top and bottom of the long grain, not the side grain as that will shrink, the long grain stays as is and you can screw the faceplate back on using those two holes when returning after drying.

What I do now is held on the faceplate, turn the outside shape and turn a recess in it, then flip over and hold that on my Oneway chuck and do the inside, to return after drying, I can usually hold the bowl in the slightly oval recess by placing it so the jaws will hold evenly, and then straighten the top, reverse and return the recess and return the outside at the same time, then flip it over and return the inside.
 

Attachments

  • Old Teak bowl.jpg
    Old Teak bowl.jpg
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Last edited:
I want to thank everyone for all the great replies and tips on returning bowls.
I appreciate this forum and everyone's willingness to share their knowledge and experiences.
There are so many excellent suggestions and tips that I have not found anywhere else. I've had mortises go oval and I must be a member of the brute squad because I've had them break apart too.
Thank you Leo for the suggestion about leaving only two screws in the top and bottom of the long grain. I may try that as an experiment but it looks as if tenons will be a part of my process. Thanks Doug for the suggestion of slightly oversizing the tenon so it can be turned true if need be.

Again, Thanks everyone for the replies.
I'm still open to any other suggestions for using rings.
Al
 
Last edited:
Thanks for asking about this, Al. I've wondered how useful and popular the ring approach is. So far, it sounds like they may not be too popular.
 
Mike Johnson said:
If you do most of your work with an adjustable chuck, the face plate rings provide a quick method of mounting the blank to rough turn and create a tenon or recess on one end of the blank before remounting it onto the adjustable chuck.
Click to expand...
Another woodturning trade off.

I start most of my bowls between centers using a spur drive so that I can fine tune the grain and or rim orientations.

Using a screw center or faceplate rings leaves me depending on the saw cuts for grain alignment.
One benefit is not needing the tailstock which I can’t use for some turnings.

I do use a screw center most of the time when I’m turning platters or split hollow-form seed jars where I need access to turn parts inside the tenon.
 
I have never figured out any advantage or use for a faceplate rings. I just use a faceplate. they are cheaper than the rings, still have screws holding them! also I echo the comments on what happens when you leave anything metal in contact with the wet wood. I have on occasion left a chuck on a green wood bowl overnight. The rust that occurs even in that short a period of time makes it difficult, but not impossible, to remove. it takes a lot of rust remover and elbow grease.
 
You can still use the tailstock with the ring mount until the blank is balanced, not having to remove the chuck is the main advantage.
 
Rusty Nesmith said:
The one advantage I see to using the ring is you can leave your Chuck on the lathe.
Click to expand...

Mike Johnson said:
You can still use the tailstock with the ring mount until the blank is balanced, not having to remove the chuck is the main advantage.
Click to expand...


Unless you get one of those steb centers that will chuck up into your 4-jaw chuck, then you don't need to remove chuck to put a piece between centers either.... I have one, it fits in like the worm screw does, quite a time-saver
 
Al Chavez said:
I've just bought a couple of 3" and a couple of 6" dovetail rings for my nova chuck. I have only ever made greenwood bowls once turned and allowed to warp while drying. I would like to try twice turning some pieces to elimanate the warping that occurs while the wood stablizes.

Are the rings used to rough turn pieces and left in place while the wood stablizes? I know it may be 6 months or much longer for it to stablize.
This seems like it would be a method to easily remount the piece after it has dried and warped.

My concern is would the screws used to fasten the ring to the blank cause stress and potential cracks into the bowl as it dries. I am leaning towards removing the rings after rough turning and centering the bowls using other methods for the 2nd turning now.

The idea of leaving the rings on the blanks is why I bought the rings but if I am wrong about using them this way I have another question.

How do you use rings?
I have a few ideas beyond turning multiple pieces in a session and swapping them out on the same chuck. I think they would be useful for D.I.Y. jigs.
I know that some use them for the convenience of not having to remove the chuck or ease of mounting the piece to the chuck (versus holding it up and threading it on the spindle).

Any other uses for rings that I am missing?
Click to expand...
I have a 3" one but rarely use it. I drill a 5-10mm deep mortice on the top of the blank with a forstner bit to fit the jaws on my Nova chuck.
After hollowing out the bowl, I leave a dimple in the centre for the tailstock to aid in remounting the distorted blank after drying.
 
I know this is an old thread, but I would love some feedback on the safety of the Chuck Rings. My plan is to mount the ring on a plywood disk that I will use for sanding, turning the lathe temporarily into a disk sander.
I have seen folks do this with a faceplate, and that makes sense, but using the ring allows quick attachment and simpler storage for the large disk.
Thoughts?
 
Rusty Nesmith said:
I use a 3” ring. I screw it to the top of the bowl. I get the outside turned including a tenon on the bottom. I put the tenon in the Chuck, remove the ring and rough turn the inside. Then I green wood seal the whole bowl and set it on a shelf.
Click to expand...
^^^^^^what he said^^^^^^^
 
Lowell Fuher said:
I know this is an old thread, but I would love some feedback on the safety of the Chuck Rings. My plan is to mount the ring on a plywood disk that I will use for sanding, turning the lathe temporarily into a disk sander.
I have seen folks do this with a faceplate, and that makes sense, but using the ring allows quick attachment and simpler storage for the large disk.
Thoughts?
Click to expand...
I use a ring on my vacuum disc which looks like a sanding disc. I glued a round blank/block to the back then used screws through the front of the disc with the dovetail ring mounted on the back of the block. Very handy for me. This was before I bought a beal threader to direct thread. But I have yet to use that.
 
Lowell Fuher said:
I know this is an old thread, but I would love some feedback on the safety of the Chuck Rings. My plan is to mount the ring on a plywood disk that I will use for sanding, turning the lathe temporarily into a disk sander.
I have seen folks do this with a faceplate, and that makes sense, but using the ring allows quick attachment and simpler storage for the large disk.
Thoughts?
Click to expand...
I've turned very large bowls using face plate rings. I don't think you will have an safety concerns as long as you seat it correctly (and it is hard to get wrong, but it is possible). I would also check the screws connecting the ring the plywood regularly. I think that is where you could end up with issues (backing out, etc).
 
Paul Paukstelis said:
I've turned very large bowls using face plate rings. I don't think you will have an safety concerns as long as you seat it correctly (and it is hard to get wrong, but it is possible). I would also check the screws connecting the ring the plywood regularly. I think that is where you could end up with issues (backing out, etc).
Click to expand...
Thanks Paul - good advice
 
BobCoates said:
You may want to use something like these. Used both on different wood jaws and they worked much better then screws. May be able to fined locally.

Six-Prong T-Nuts (1/4-20 Thread) or https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/search#q=00N2206 &t=product-search-tab&sort=relevancy&layout=card&numberOfResults=25​

1/4-20 Quick-Connect Plain Insert Nuts https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/search#q=1/4-20 Quick-Connect Plain Insert Nuts&t=product-search-tab&sort=relevancy&layout=card&numberOfResults=25​

Click to expand...
Thanks, Bob—that's a great idea! I have used both and have a good supply of the Insert nuts in my nuts/bolts collection. I used the inserts to mount the Christmas lights on the perimeter of my home; it makes for easy setup and teardown. But that's a whole different story.

Again - thanks!
 
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