# Grizzly 12x37 face plate made



## Ryan383 (Jan 13, 2019)

I couldn't find a faceplate for my old 12x37 anywhere so figured I would start making one. My manual said the spindle was 2 1/2 -8 thread but the major diam measured 2.356" so I decided to just match that with the female threads.


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## kvt (Jan 13, 2019)

Looks nice.


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## rock_breaker (Jan 13, 2019)

Nice looking face plate! No doubt it wouldn't be here unless the project was successful, any comment on thread engagement and run out?
Have  good day
Ray


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## Dabbler (Jan 13, 2019)

I have your exact lathe sold by Busy bee (purchased in '81).  So hold on you your hat.  _The spindle is actually a 62 mm X 8 TPI!!!  _Yes it is!  Someone here on the forum (I'm sorry I can't remember who) alerted me to this fact.  I hope this helps!!!

I have a friend with the same lathe and he's made a very close mock up of his spindle to work as a go/nogo gauge...  He's build several (perhaps 4 or 5) backing plates for it, and they are near perfect!


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## benmychree (Jan 13, 2019)

I have seen that even sloppy threads on chuck backing plates  will still center up accurately, having said that, I personally make a thread gage for every lathe that I've had over the years, and also try to fit the unthreaded portion of the backplate for a close fit on the spindle.


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## Ryan383 (Jan 13, 2019)

Yeah I just measured and went for it, couldn't have asked for better thread engagement. No tightness and almost zero slop. The bore that it registers on is a little tight, but better that than loose


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## Ryan383 (Jan 13, 2019)

I had a hard time deciding how to hold it so I could bore/thread it. A rotary table on the mill would have been nice but I don't own one. So I plunged the bit in between each gusset and turned it by hand so I had 3 surfaces concentric to the bore, so I could flip and run in the 3 jaw.


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## pdentrem (Jan 13, 2019)

What size weight are you using? I have not found a face plate for my lathe yet and looks like never will.


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## sixball (Jan 13, 2019)

Good work. Your lathe is also identical to my 1985 Shenwai SW 900B.


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## Ryan383 (Jan 14, 2019)

It was a 25 lb Olympic weight


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## Ryan383 (Jan 21, 2019)

Machined grooves .004" deep every .5" and .010 deep every 1"


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## Ryan383 (Jan 21, 2019)

Drilled and tapped 1/2-13 for using hold downs. Can always drill more in the future if needed


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## astjp2 (Jan 30, 2020)

that is a nice setup...


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## sixball (Jan 31, 2020)

Nice work.


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