NUTS! Homemade Faceplate Query

[wizer]

Whilst browsing the web t'other day I came across a tutorial for making you own faceplate fixtures using nuts. I managed to source some M33 x 3.5 nuts on thinternet:

However, some of the nuts are hard to screw on and others do not seat properly against the back of the spindle\arbour.

What you get is it seated for half the circumference and about a mm gap for the other.

I take it this will prove to be a problem for making things run true? The faceplate that came with the lathe fits fine. Am I right in saying that as long as I use solid wood, this won't pose too much of a problem? As I can true it up with tools.

I welcome your advice and comments.

 

[cornucopia]

it needs to seat 100% tom or you will have problems.

 

[Anonymous]

Some car oil filters have a 3/4x16 thread... I wouldn't recommend them as faceplates though ...possible safety issues

 

[TEP]

Hi Tom, just a thought. I have turned mild steel with a sharp scraper on the lathe, so. If you put a couple of washers behind the nut to pack it out past the face of the spindle and turn that face flat. Then reverse the nut and do the same on the other face. Will this not machine it true to the threads on the spindle?

 

[wizer]

Hi Tam, I was just thinking along those lines after I posted. The nuts are Bright Zinc (whatever that means). I guess even course W&D would do it?

cheers

 

[CHJ]

Tom you need to use HSS tools to true it up, using W&D will just follow the uneven contour.

Wear mask if it is Zinc plated, dust not good for you.

Just remember you are relying on the thread forms to centralise the nut, so the better the fit the less likely it is to move if you get a catch.

 

[TEP]

Tom, bright zinc is just a very, very thin coating. you could scrape it off with a knife blade. The nut is coated in this stuff to help it stay corrosion proof.

As Chas said no use using WD paper, set the nut as I explained put the tool rest as close as possible and use a sharp HSS scraper to gently scrape away the high part. Don't shove the scraper in just gently catch the high spot and slowly work the scraper across. You will soon flatten the face off. Then do the other side.

After that of course you will be looking for a welder to weld a plate onto it. :twisted: :twisted:

 

[wizer]

Cheers Guys.

From what I have read, using araldite and wood will be sufficient for most of the things I want to do. i,e Donut Chuck, Sanding Discs. As long as I'm aware that it won't take loads of abuse then it'll be fine, i'm sure. Tho getting a plate welded to it might still work out cheaper than buying them. When you consider the nuts where less than a pound each.

 

[Turn It In]

Hi Tom,
How do you plan to use the nuts to produce a face plate?

Has the shaft on the lathe got a plain unthreaded portion, if so this is called the register and you machine the threaded portion out to that dimension to register the face plate or chuck back plate so as to provide concentricity with the lathe mandrel. Plain nuts such as those you have obtained are purely for fixings such as bolts and not precise enough for alignment.

To true the nuts to the face as suggested you can space them off to overhang the end of the mandrel but do not use plane washers as they have probably been punched out and will not be accurately flat enough, so they will tilt the nut and once again you will not end up with a true face.
I trust I have explained that clearly for you and will help you further should you require it.
Best regards,
Ian

 

[wizer]

Thanks for that Ian. So what might I use instead of the washers (which I don't have anyway). Can I use wood?

 

[crazylilting]

I'll be watching this thread with great interest. Thanks for sharing this project and do keep us posted on your progress?

 

[John. B]

Tom, bring it around to me and I'll face it off on my metal lathe

John. B

 

[robo hippy]

I had the good fortune to take a 3 day workshop with Bonnie Klein last fall, and she uses a lot of waste blocks made with nuts.

First, get the locking type with the nylon inserts in them. I have found places that sell fasteners cheaper than the big box stores, box of 10 is about $25. They stick out farther, so the spindle end is covered. To remove the insert, heat it with a torch to loosen it up and pry it out. If you don't have a torch, use a few washers or a 1/4 or 1/2 inch piece of plywood and then screw it onto your lathe (nylon facing away from the lathe) and turn it out with a square nosed scraper. You don't have to get it all out, just enough so that it won't lock onto your headstock spindle when you screw it on. I also face the surface that will be up against the headstock by lightly touching a big heavy scraper to it. Just enough to even it up.

Get some cheap pine or other wood. I use it mostly for boxes to glue top and bottoms to, so about 3 inch squares work for me. Drill the proper sized hole for the nut with a forstner bit, about 3/8 inch deep (sorry, I never learned metric, we are kind of slow about that here, me especially). You want at least 1/3 of the nut to sit down in the wood. Next, you want to epoxy the nuts into the blocks. I use a 2 part epoxy, the 1 hour type that comes in 2 connectes tubes (squeeze it out on some thing and mix it with a stick, then spoon it in). I found a syringe in the wall paper department of my big box store, that is made for getting glue into small places. The narrow tip is perfect for inserting down to the bottom of the hole and filling from the bottom up. One set of epoxy tubes, slightly less than 1 ounce here, will take care of almost 10 nuts/waste blocks. I fill the syringe about 3/4 the way full, and use a bamboo sishkabob skewer to mix it with, then put the plunger into the tube and squeeze it out into the six sides of the nut. I fill it to the top first, then run another slight bead on top of that. I press the nuts in by hand till they are all the way to the bottom, and never had any problems with glue seeping under the nut. I do like to let them sit over night before turning the square blocks round. Flatten the faces with a large straight skew, and have fun.

robo hippy

 

[paulm]

I've lost track Tom of whether you have a scroll chuck yet, I guess not ?

I use mine for mounting glue blocks and sanding disks so never really need to bother with faceplates unless turning something heavier and larger.

No help though if haven't got the chuck to start with ....!

Cheers, Paul

 

[Turn It In]

Hi Tom,
Just got back on the forum and I am pleased to se that John has made you that offer of trueing up the nuts. If you needed a spacer just let me know the spindle diameter and I would have turned you a flat spacer washer and put it in the post.
However I will keep an eye on this thread and if I can be of any help let me know.
If you have a chuck Pauls method to mount flat discs of MDF or something similar on your chuck is an ideal way.
Regards,
Ian

 

[MikeG.]

Tom,

forgive the foray into the world of round stuff.......

If you are going to true up the nut, then weld a faceplate to it, I suspect you may end up with problems. Welding distorts metal. Whilst it distorts it predictably, it will still distort, so your carefully trued-up nut will be to no avail I'm afraid.

You really should do your welding first, then true everything up afterwards. As this will mean skimming a steel plate, I'm not sure I would want to risk doing that using hand-held tools. I reckon you would be better off asking a friend with an engineering lathe to sort it all out for you.

Excuse the intrusion....

Mike

 

[wizer]

cheers Mike, I wasn't really intending to go as far as having a plate welded to the nut to be honest. But agree that the plate would then need truing.

This is a cheap solution until I can save enough pennies to buy a proper chuck.

Paul I see your point about making attachments for the chuck, but what if I have something mounted to the chuck that's WIP and I want to sand something with a disc or I want to rough out some bowls? I think even after I have a chuck it will be useful to have these fixtures and not totally rely on chucks.

John that's a kind offer. I will try doing it on my lathe and if I crash and burn I'll be round, nuts in hand :shock: :lol:

 

[John. B]

OOOh nasty business :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

 

[wizer]

Well I nipped out into the workshop earlier to have a go and it seems to work very well. I only have a round nose scraper (that's not exactly round any more ) so I just wanted to see how it cut. It didn't seem to take consistent 'shavings' off, sometimes it'd cut and sometimes it wouldn't. but that may have been entirely down to technique. But when I flipped the nut back round it seated against the the back of the arbour perfectly. I did 'machine' the best one so the others may be more of a challenge.

 

[John. B]

Well done.
Seems you are now on the slippery slope of metalworking, YIKES,,,,, (hammer) (hammer) (hammer) (hammer) (hammer)

John. B