Oh Bugger :(

[Gitface]

Hi all

The title says it all

I was going to make a wide deep bowl out of some of the poplar I recently got, so mounted a piece on the face plate using all the holes in the plate for support. Put in on the lathe and brought the tail stock up as well to give extra support and turn the lathe down the the slowest speed while I roughed it out and trued it up.

Things were going fine, untill there was a clunck and the wood fell off. Looking puzzeled I turned the lathe off, thinking that it had pulled off the screws or something.

Was completlly supprised to see this :shock:

Suffice to say I was not expecting that. I've contacted the company that I got the lathe from and am going to see what they say.

Has anyone else had this happen to them? I would have thought that since you can spin 12" over the bed that the face plate would be a bit tuffer.

Mark...........

 

[Jenx]

Oh !!! :shock:

It looks like Cast, is it ?

Cast ( or 'Flake' ) iron is a bit prone to that kind of thing...
Ductile iron is a wee bit stronger ( Spheroidal Graphite or Nodular CI, as its known )
Wrought Iron or Forged Steel .. better again.

I've got a faceplate like that one which came with my lathe.. but I don't use it.. not because of fear of that happening, but more because its so thin where the srewholes are... the screws i use end up too far into the blank.... so I tend to stick with the Forged ones, which are thicker, and the screws aren't emerging out the other side of my timber .

I'd definately give them a tug.. that could have been potentially much nastyer. :shock:

 

[cornucopia]

cast plates are prone to this- toolpost or axminister do a nice strong steel one

 

[user 5053]

Don't really like that arrangement with all those screws and they look a bit light weight and the faceplate should be designed with much more thickness to withstand the torque. Poplar is probably the worst turning wood you could imagine. Totally lacking in any character and not very satisfying to work with. We hope you get back into it and won't be put off. If it a new plate the dealer should replace it.

 

[Gitface]

Hi

Jenx: When I got a closer look, thats the first thing that sprnag to mind that is was cast.

I imagine if the lathe was spinning much faster then it might have got airbourne.

I'm going to see what results from my e-mail the the company and look to get a different plate.

Hopefully I will also be able to get one with the thread the other way for the outboard end as the Clarke ones look to be all the same.

Soulfly: I'd used all 8 holes to make sure that the wood did not come off the plate, never expected the plate to come of the plate. As to the poplar, some of the bits I've turned so far have had some character to them, and I am finding that it cuts well. Have just put 3 lumps in the compost bin to try and spalt them.

Mark.............

 

[Jenx]

Sounds good, Mark ! 8)

As Goorge says, Axi do really nice steel ones, and they're not wildly expensive.. I'm fairly sure that they CNC their own ones out, in-house...
( not 100% positive on that, but I think they do )

As i was mentioning .. I have an almost identical one to yours there, that came with the lathe I have now, but I haven't used it... as I mainly do the typical "approx 2" thick" bowl blanks, I was always thinking 'by the time I put my screws home, they'll be near out the other side !'

Different for that big monster of a log, of course ! :lol: :lol:

That sure could have been a nasty one, if she'd given-way at an even more 'inopportune' moment ! could have ended up anywhere ! :lol: :lol:
Chalk that one up to a lucky escape !

Keep us posted as to how you get on ...
be interesting to hear what the suppliers / manufacturer's say ...
I'd be a wee bit 'guarded' about telling them of the log... they might try and blame 'it' ... more about the 'reach' in distance from the headstock end, rather than the capacity of "swing over bed", if you know what i mean ! 8) :lol:

Hope you get sorted, 'soon as' ! 8) :lol: 8) :lol:

 

[roggatismus]

This very thing happened to me. is it a clarke faceplate?

i have the cwl12d lathe

i got it second hand and bits keep breaking

 

[Gitface]

roggatismus Yes it's a clake CWL12D, appart from having to nip up most of the bolts, i'm so far happy with it as my first lathe.

Just got a mail back from Chronos Engineering Supplies and they are sending a replacement out to me. I think I'll also look into geting a new plate anyway.

What are the advantages of getting different sizes?

Mark................

 

[cornucopia]

roggatismus

What are the advantages of getting different sizes?

Mark................

being able to hold diffent size lumps in safety

i have a 2", 3", 6" i could do with getting an 8" aswell