On Thu, 11 May 2006 21:24:57 -0400, Harry Pye
wrote:

Prometheus wrote:

You make a good point, but why use the faceplate at all, glue block or
no if you have a chuck? It's pretty easy to turn a tenon between
centers and part off. Or it that something a guy has to do with one
of those stubby bowl lathes? (I don't have one, and haven't looked at
them closely)

I rarely use a faceplate. I mount the blank between centers. It is
easier to get it balanced that way and that is the way we learned in the
David Ellsworth workshop. I rough turn the outside and create the tenon
this way. Then reverse it in a chuck to do the inside. With green wood
and a really rough piece of wood, the drive center cuts into the wood
and the tailstock needs to be tightened regularly. On the bright side,
the drive center does some of the hollowing for you! And, with both
centers dug into the wood, there is little chance of the blank coming
off the lathe.

Yeah, that's almost a perfect description of the way I do it, I was
just pointing out that the idea of just using the chuck may not be an
option for a guy that just has a faceplate. Chucks are expensive
toys, after all- I used a faceplate for six months or so after I got
my lathe. Hence the discussion about glue blanks and the like.
Unless I've got it all wrong, and the OP just likes the glue block
better than the chuck for aestetic or other reasons.