Popular Woodworking 2006-12 № 159, страница 68

The blank mounted and ready to go. Begin turning the bottom of the platter by cutting with a bowl gouge from the approximate edge of the foot toward the rim. You'll need to take more material off toward the rim than at the foot, so make more cuts and/or take deeper cuts as you near the edge. Be sure the foot area is deep enough to cut an adequate recess for the chuck.

When you've removed most of the excess wood, make smaller, cleaner cuts as you rough in the shape of the platter. Begin planning what the rim will look like; you'll need to shape the bottom accordingly now.

Use lighter cuts with a freshly sharpened tool to leave a clean surface as you refine the shape. As you make the workpiece thinner, you may begin to have problems with some chattering. Make sure to apply the tool pressure into the cut (i.e., parallel to the surface), not into the surface of the piece itself; this will help reduce the chatter.

Transfer the measurement to the foot: With the lathe on, put one point at center (but not touching the wood), and mark with the other point (or pencil) by allowing it to touch the wood. This establishes the size of the recess you will cut for the chuck jaws.

The recess should be deep enough that the bottom surface is at the same level as that of the platter. It's most pleasing if it appears as though the foot ring was applied to a perfectly curved, continuous surface. The bottom surface (of the foot) should be completed and sanded at this point, because it won't be accessible when the piece is re-mounted to complete the foot ring.

Turn the chuck key until the jaws are nearly closed, but not quite; if you cut the recess a bit too small, you can just close the jaws the rest of the way to make the chuck fit into the foot. Also a recess of the smallest diameter that will accommodate the chuck reduces the chance of the foot ring breaking from the outward pressure. With a compass, divider or caliper, measure from the center of the chuck to the outside of the jaws.

The shoulder inside the foot must be slightly dovetailed so the chuck jaws can grip it securely. I use a long fingernail-ground spindle gouge for this cut; it's hard to get a good, clean undercut shoulder with even the smallest bowl gouge.

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