Here's another nice mess I've gotten myself into...

LOL, "the Hopper gizmo". my fifteen minutes of fame at last.
Glad it worked for you.

Good to hear it Robin.

Hopper - enjoy the fame and fortune for the full 15 minutes!

Ah, one minute to go and loving every second of it.

Edit, oh no, it's actually over. Well it was good while it lasted and the afterglow lives on.

Edited By Hopper on 21/02/2018 03:34:39

Hopper!

We're not worthy, were not... hang on, his 15 minutes has run out!

Neil

I think the faceplate is often ignored as it is perceived as a bit fiddly to set up. On its own it is just like the table on a milling machine but with some accessories like clamps and a small vice it starts to become very useful. It can be a bit dangerous if you do not keep in mind the swept path of what you have mounted on the plate and always check everything is positively fixed, you don't want a parallel flying out or such like.

Mike

Mike, I find myself using the faceplate more and more. It's very handy for odd stuff -- and most of the stuff I do seems to be odd!.

Couple of things I have picked up: Lay the faceplate flat on the bench and set the job in position and clamp it up as close as you can eyeball it before mounting it on the lathe. Much easier than trying to hold the job in place and position clamps while the faceplate is vertical on the lathe.

The other is to use a counterweight to balance offset jobs. This way you can use higher rpm without the lathe trying to dance across the workshop floor. But paint the counter weight red so you can see where it's at. VERY easy to forget its there while focusing on the workpiece and its clamps and rapped knuckles or worse can easily happen.

Also, get into the habit of spinning the faceplate a full revolution by hand before starting the motor up. This makes sure that clamps and weights etc don't crash under power into the bed at the end of the gap or into the toolpost etc.

Yes, sigh. It was while you guys were all still in bed so you missed it.

Although I have yet to make one a dummy free running spindle nose looks very useful for initially setting the job as it can be easily turned for access and then used to statically balance the plate by turning it to the vertical position. I think I have just talked myself into promoting that up my to do list.

Mike

I think a lock must be part of the design or it could get very annoying.

Edited By Mike Poole on 21/02/2018 10:34:08

Yes, I saw an aritcle on such a device in an old MEW and have been meaning to make one ever since. I think it was by Harold Hall so am fairly sure it would be on his website if so. His had ball bearings and a pivot and locking pin so it could be held in the bench vice, the job set up in place and then swing the whole thing through 90 degrees to do the balancing. This would give finer balance than my current bodging along trying to hold the belt clear of the spindle while spinning the faceplate and making my best guess at wehre to put the counterweight.