I am taking a bowl-turning class at a high school. So far I have made 2
bowls and a plate. There is one class left; I would like to make a cup,
basically a cylinder with a little radius at the bottom. I am a bit
concerned about not having time to finish it.

The way we are taught to do it is to screw the workpiece to a faceplate and
cut the sides and bottom. Then glue a wood block to the bottom and screw
the wood block to the faceplate and turn the inside.

To save a little time I glued the wood block on before I started. Then it
occured to me that I can screw the woodblock to the faceplate and turn the
sides and interior with the same setup. Except for the radius, there isn't
much to do on the bottom and that will be bigger than the wood block.

Is there anything wrong with this idea? It certainly avoids the possibility
of not getting the two mounts on the same exact center, since there will
only be one mount.

I also thought of drilling some of the interior out at home to save a little
time. Is that a reasonable thing to do? If I don't get it precisely
centered it might be more trouble than it is worth. Any other flaws to the
idea?
Thanks

Hi Suanne,

It sounds like you are having a great time in your class and learning a
lot as well. Your ideas are right on the money. I say go for it. Drilling
the cup prior to mounting is a good idea. Don't worry about it being dead
center. Once you start the hollowing process on the lathe it will center for
you. Keep having fun and good luck. If you can you should post pics of your
work on alt.binaries.pictures.woodworking It's fun to share.
Good luck on your project.

Dan

"Suanne Lippman" wrote in message
...
I am taking a bowl-turning class at a high school. So far I have made 2
bowls and a plate. There is one class left; I would like to make a cup,
basically a cylinder with a little radius at the bottom. I am a bit
concerned about not having time to finish it.

The way we are taught to do it is to screw the workpiece to a faceplate
and cut the sides and bottom. Then glue a wood block to the bottom and
screw the wood block to the faceplate and turn the inside.

To save a little time I glued the wood block on before I started. Then it
occured to me that I can screw the woodblock to the faceplate and turn the
sides and interior with the same setup. Except for the radius, there
isn't much to do on the bottom and that will be bigger than the wood
block.

Is there anything wrong with this idea? It certainly avoids the
possibility of not getting the two mounts on the same exact center, since
there will only be one mount.

I also thought of drilling some of the interior out at home to save a
little time. Is that a reasonable thing to do? If I don't get it
precisely centered it might be more trouble than it is worth. Any other
flaws to the idea?
Thanks

On Sat, 02 Dec 2006 03:46:09 GMT, "Suanne Lippman"
wrote:

I am taking a bowl-turning class at a high school. So far I have made 2
bowls and a plate. There is one class left; I would like to make a cup,
basically a cylinder with a little radius at the bottom. I am a bit
concerned about not having time to finish it.

The way we are taught to do it is to screw the workpiece to a faceplate and
cut the sides and bottom. Then glue a wood block to the bottom and screw
the wood block to the faceplate and turn the inside.

To save a little time I glued the wood block on before I started. Then it
occured to me that I can screw the woodblock to the faceplate and turn the
sides and interior with the same setup. Except for the radius, there isn't
much to do on the bottom and that will be bigger than the wood block.

Is there anything wrong with this idea? It certainly avoids the possibility
of not getting the two mounts on the same exact center, since there will
only be one mount.

Nothing wrong with it at all. Just cut it off with the parting tool
when finished- you may have to hand sand part of the bottom, but
that's not that tough.

I also thought of drilling some of the interior out at home to save a little
time. Is that a reasonable thing to do? If I don't get it precisely
centered it might be more trouble than it is worth. Any other flaws to the
idea?

Nothing wrong with that, either. Sounds like you've got the idea.

Have fun!

be sure and sign, date and number the pieces. Will be fun in a couple of
years to look back.

--
Art Ransom
Lancaster , Texas

www.turningaround.org