A friend learned to turn before chucks were common and everyone used face plates. To keep the screw holes out of his blank, he didn't use glue and paper but instead used double-sided tape to hold the blank to the faceplate. This holds incredibly well. Still uses this today, even for large bowls from solid blanks. Use one layer of tape on the face plate, one on the flattened bottom of the blank, burnished to hold tightly, remove baking and stick the layers together (tape running perpendicular). It can be a challenge to get apart - use thin wooden wedges and patience. I've used the tape method, not on the wood lathe but on the milling machine to hold certain pieces for machining. Again, used wedges to SLOWLY separate.
I've never seen anyone put paper between bowl blank and waste block. As mentioned above, seen it used a lot for inside out turnings. Sir John Lucas is a master at that. If anyone hasn't seen the technique maybe try to bribe him to come for a demo.
Also the paper method is not the only method but is a one way to make an "emerging bowl" or two. Glue the faces of two pieces together with paper between to make a square blank, turn the outside of a partial sphere, split the halves apart, remount (there are ways), then turn the inside of the sphere on at least one half. This is the only one I've made.
To end up with a thin, even wall thickness, the outside sphere needs to be, well, spherical.
JKJ
