just give me a break, just once

allen levine

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new york city burbs
every step of woodturning me has to have setbacks. I cleared my entire afternoon for turning one bowl, the blank I glued up last week.
cut it down on band saw, was attaching face plate with same screws Ive used on maple before, sure enough, the second screw broke off in bowl blank.
Question, how would anyone suggest digging it out?
(you can see the screw lower left side)
 

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Hole saw or plug cutter.

I'm also with Mack, coarse thread pan head machine screws here. Don't reuse them too often since the screwing in/out will eventually weaken the metal.
 
Yup! 3/8" plug cutter in the drill press. You will still have to pop out the 'stem' with the screw embedded, but that shouldn't be too hard. And Ryan is right also with the screw choice. And pre-drill in hardwoods. Save yourself some grief.

It's these little setbacks that are the greatest teachers. I can say I have BTDT with this one as well! Don't be discouraged. Its all part of the fun.
 
I'll second the hole saw idea. You could also dig it out with a chisel and vice grip pliers. Of course the side with the screw holes in it just became the top part of the bowl (if it wasn't planned to be already). I'll also third the recommendation to not use wood screws. I prefer to use hex head sheet metal screws when I use a faceplate. (And prefer to not use a faceplate unless it's absolutely necessary.)

For a typical blank like this, I would mount it between centers, turn the tenon on the tailstock end, and rough shape the outside of the bowl. Then I'd reverse the blank, mount the tenon in a chuck, re-true the outside if necessary, and turn the inside. Then I'd reverse it one more time to turn off the tenon and finish the bottom. No faceplate needed, really.

If you're worried about the blank staying between centers, drill a shallow (1/2" or so deep) hole with a forstner bit that's the size of your spur center. Mine's 1" diameter, and I'll bet yours is, too. With a recessed "socket" like that for the spur center to sit in, it's almost impossible to have the blank come off the lathe while you're roughing and shaping the blank.
 
To add to my anti-faceplate position...

Many people use faceplates that are MUCH larger than they need to be. A lot of lathes come with faceplates that are 6" or so in diameter. I've turned a number of 15" to 24" blanks with a 3" faceplate, and never had any issues.
 
To add to my anti-faceplate position...

Many people use faceplates that are MUCH larger than they need to be. A lot of lathes come with faceplates that are 6" or so in diameter. I've turned a number of 15" to 24" blanks with a 3" faceplate, and never had any issues.

:D I bought a larger one but have never used it :rolleyes: Luckily it was cheap (unluckily it was cheap and shows it). I don't skimp on the screws though and put in all 6 since it doesn't take significantly more time and makes me feel better about things.
 
thanx, the plug cutter burned a little, but it came out easy enough.

don't know why I attached them with those screws.

I usually use hex head machine screws, have tons and tons of them and will probably never use them for anything else.

I received my 3/8th bit extender today so I can continue to finish the pepper mills I started.

I was going to glue a block to it and use it in my chuck, but I figured just as easy to turn outside first 9(with faceplate)then cut and put in chuck for inside.
 
When I asked about a faceplate, the nice man at MLCS suggested drilling a hole with my forstner bit and inserting the narrow jaws that came with my chuck, expanding the jaws to fit the hole and turning that way instead.
 
every step of woodturning me has to have setbacks. I cleared my entire afternoon for turning one bowl, the blank I glued up last week.
cut it down on band saw, was attaching face plate with same screws Ive used on maple before, sure enough, the second screw broke off in bowl blank.
Question, how would anyone suggest digging it out?
(you can see the screw lower left side)

I have never (and I don't know anyone who has) broken a McFeeley screw. Some of their screws drill the screw hole as they are being driven---that is really neat says the lazy guy.
Seriously, any place a screw is driven into a "not a piece of cake" location, I use McFeeley. I use the screws I already collected over the years for "sissy" stuff. I have given away a few thousand of the pre-McFeeley screws just to get rid of them.

I know it sounds like it but I do not have any connections with McFeeley except as a customer.

Enjoy,
JimB

Can you just rotate the faceplate a few degrees and put in all new screws (drilling pilot holes, waxing the screws, being gentle on the screwdriver handle, etc.) first. You were not going to use the wood where the screw broke off anyway because there would be a hole in the finished product. You are not going to turn into that area anyway so the broken screw should not be a problem.

Now you have one more darn fools opinion. I hope it helps you.

Enjoy,
JimB

Tell me what size screws you are using in that faceplate and I will send you some.

Enjoy Again!
 
I don't have a hole saw or plug cutter, so my solution may be a Kenya engineering solution..:rolleyes:.. I drill in a circle around the screw until I have enough wood cut away and can get a pair of pliers onto the screw... also say a few choice words over the blank to facilitate the process.:rolleyes:
 
They actually sell screw extractors that are very similar to small hole cutters. You can also take a small piece of tubing just bigger than the body of the screw and dremal or file some teeth on it to make your own very cheap. Smaller hole to deal with than the hole plug cutter.

The price is stupid high for what they are now..
http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/set3hollowscrewextractors.aspx

Garry

I walked 2 doors down from me to my contractor neighbor. He has every tool there is, including thousands of bits and asst things.
He had that set, he described it perfectly, but after looking for 20 minutes, just couldn't remember if he lent it to one of his partners or whatever. we didn't find it.
it all worked out, the bowl is half turned sitting on the lathe waiting for me tomorrow to finish it.
 
thanx for the offer jim, one thing I don't need is anymore screws.
I have enough to last me 4 more lifetimes.

I screw mounted it to the faceplate and that side ended up the inside. I might be done using the faceplate after this bowl.
 
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