One common method of chucking a bowl blank in a lathe is to use glue and paper to attach a waste piece to the bottom of the blank, then screw the faceplate to the scrap a time-consuming procedure. If your bowl design calls for a small foot (1-1/2-in. dia. or so), here’s a faster, easier procedure.

First screw the bottom of the blank directly to a 3-in. faceplate and turn the inside to finished size. Turn the outside rim to size, but leave the bottom oversize so you won’t hit the faceplate screws. Remove the blank from the faceplate and reverse it on the lathe, holding it in place between a foam-covered faceplate and the tailstock. Now finish the foot to final size, cutting away all traces of the screw holes.

To make the foam faceplate, glue 1-in. thick foam to a trued-up 4-in. or 5-in. maple disc screwed to a 3-in. faceplate. I use a ball-bearing tailstock center, fitted with a 7/8-in. flat wooden pad, to press the bowl into the foam disc.

Max M. Kline, Saluda, N.C.

Fine Woodworking Magazine, October 1984 No. 48

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