On Aug 25, 9:04 am, John wrote:
First
I have several sets of jaws for my chuck, and they all seem to have
different diameters

Second
Faceplate rings tend to come in specific sizes, and usually not the one
you want for the chuck jaws currently fitted

Third
I tend to use a small ring so the screw hole pattern is small. Good if I
want a small hole in the top of the object I plan to turn, or if you
want greater options after the initial turning tells you what it wants
to be

Fourth
I am tending to turn Dovetail spigots on the bottoms of my bowls as
external grip on a dovetail seems far better than internal grip in a
dovetail especially when there is not much material to play with

The issue I see is that this normally requires a jaw change - and that
takes time

What I have in mind is a a Faceplate ring that can be clamped on the
outside (like a spigot) rather than the usual inside (it may be possible
to have an inside dovetail too. I can see there may be a need for a
spacer to ensure the ring bottoms out on the chuck, otherwise tightening
the chuck could pull the plate away from the blank.

Has anyone used this method, know of any issues before I make a couple
of these rings ?

--
John

Hello John,

You've had several replies to your post, but I don't believe anyone
answered your question. I think a lot depends on the type of chucks
you use. A faceplate ring should work fine with a clamp down onto the
outside of the ring tenon provided your chuck has a dovetail like the
Nova Chucks have on their jaws. Then if you size the tenon for the
chuck to grip and make the dovetail match the chuck with the jaws
almost closed (this way they are the most round) the outside grip on
the faceplate ring should work just fine. It will run most true if you
have it so the chuck jaws fit against a shoulder on the ring.

Doing it this way you can make up faceplate rings to fit each of your
sets of chuck jaws, then you can choose a ring that fits your jaws
that are currently in the chuck. Incidentally, if you are making rings
to hold bowls, making the rings as large as possible will allow you to
have the screws in an area of the bowl that will be turned away when
you final turn the foot of the bowl. I suppose this would work also
for hollow forms.

I personally use a clamping grip on the tenon of a bowl with my chuck
jaws. I've found that this holds well and it eliminates the
possibility of splitting the bowl (rather suddenly) from the expanding
pressure when you use and expanding pressure in a recess to hold the
bowl.

Incidentally, I don't use faceplate rings, although I have several, I
simply start my bowls between centers (actually between the live
center in the tailstock and the face of the chuck jaws) and turn the
outside to finish shape including a tenon to fit the chuck that is
mounted on the lathe. I reverse the blank and mount it in the chuck
jaws with a compression grip and hollow out the inside. I final sand
the inside and outside and put on the finish. I then reverse bowl
again using one of several mounting devices (a vacuum chuck, a Rim
Chuck, a Longworth chuck, or a jam fit chuck with tailstock support).
All of the reverse chucking methods should use the tailstock support
as long as possible to ensure the bowl doesn't come loose.

Fred Holder
http://www.morewoodturning.net