Faceplate(s) for my Powermatic Wood Lathe

C

Capt45

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Started a project to make faceplates for my Wood lathe. Got a solid bar of 2024 Aluminum that's 3.25" in Diameter and cut off (3) blanks 2.5" long. Started truing up the first blank this afternoon, until the cold temp forced me back into the house. Got the blank faced on both sides and trued up to the chuck/spindle, center drilled and started to pare down the side dimension. It's a very good beginner project which will include boring and threading (1.25 x 8 ).

faceplate3.jpg

faceplate2.jpg

faceplate.jpg
 
Should be a nice project. I saw a video the other day of a Vicmarc faceplate which was threaded in the centre for a worm screw. If you have or can find a worm screw with a machine thread on the other end, consider drilling and tapping for that thread. Will give you another use for the faceplate when roughing down bowls or platters.
 
Dave Paine said:
Should be a nice project. I saw a video the other day of a Vicmarc faceplate which was threaded in the center for a worm screw. If you have or can find a worm screw with a machine thread on the other end, consider drilling and tapping for that thread. Will give you another use for the faceplate when roughing down bowls or platters.
Click to expand...
The worm screw faceplates that I am familiar with use a standard flat head wood screw, inserted from the spindle side and retained by a large setscrew that bears on the flat head of the wood screw. If you can find a machined (old) wood screw, all the better as they are more accurate than the modern cold formed type.
 
Got some more time to machine the Faceplate today. Got the blank machined to size; drilled out the center to 7/8", the largest bit I have, and punched out the screw hole locations. Already have a 5 gal bucket of Aluminum shavings with more to come. Next I need to bore the center to thread the Faceplate @ 1.25" x 8.

faceplate5.jpg

faceplate4.jpg
 
Cap, thought this might help when you bore:

Screen Shot 02-13-18 at 06.31 PM.PNG

When you bore it, bore for the minor diameter range listed here. You can calculate the depth of cut but you might also consider first making a male thread to these specs so you can check fits while the faceplate is on the lathe.

Screen Shot 02-13-18 at 06.43 PM.PNG

Use your 3-wire set to hit the pitch diameter and use the resulting male thread to gauge fit in the faceplate.

Hope this helps.
 
Last edited:
Mikey; thanks for the info and suggestions. Hopefully get it done tomorrow.
 
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