This easy-to-make lathe chuck simplifies turning small bowls and other faceplate work. Mount a solid-wood block to a plywood base and turn a short cylinder with a flared lip as shown in the sketch. For flexibility, cut a saw kerf nearly through the cylinder. Then cut a mortise through the saw kerf and fit two wedges to the mortise. A dowel or bolt through the cylinder’s base will add strength.

To use the chuck, bandsaw the blank to shape and mount it on a screw center, screwing into what will be the waste from the concave part of the bowl. Shape the outside of the bowl, then carefully undercut a dovetail recess in the base to fit the lip on the chuck. Remove the stock from the screw center and the screw center from the lathe, attach the chuck, then slip the work over the chuck’s lip, carefully orienting the grain to take the pressure. Drive home the two wedges to spread the lips and lock the work in place. For safety’s sake, wrap a band of masking tape around the wedges to prevent their flying out.

W.W. Kelly, Clinton, Tenn.

Fine Woodworking Magazine, June 1980 No. 22

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