I have a couple of drill chucks but they don’t seem to go into the tailstock quill far enough to seat properly. How can I fix this problem? What is the proper way to use a drill chuck for drilling a hole on the lathe?

There are several reasons why drill chucks will not seat properly. The most common reason is that the tapers are dirty. The chucks are typically machined to precisely fit into a morse taper in the tailstock. The morse taper may be No. 1, No. 2, or No. 3, with No. 2 the most common tailstock taper. The No. 1 morse taper is found on some older model mini lathes and the No. 3 on some heavy-duty lathes. All these machines should be maintained and cleaned regularly using a cloth and solvent to remove hardened residue from the surface of the morse taper on the drill chucks, drive centers, and revolving centers. The inside of the morse taper should be cleaned in a similar manner being sure to remove any dust, chips, or hardened grease or oil which may interfere with the proper seating of the morse taper accessory being inserted into the headstock or tailstock. All morse tapers, whether male or female, are machined and hardened to international standards; however, built-up residue may interfere with the proper fit needed for precision work.

Many lathes have a self-ejecting tailstock which utilizes an internal ejector rod that ejects the center when the hand wheel is turned counterclockwise.

Before inserting a morse taper accessory, be sure the hand wheel is turned clockwise to draw the ejecting mechanism back into the tailstock as far as it will go. If not drawn back into the starting position, it may not allow the morse taper to seat before it contacts the ejecting mechanism.

If the female morse taper in the tailstock has dirt and hardened grease or oil in it, it may be necessary to use a reamer of the appropriate size to remove the debris. Hard plastic reamers are available which will do a good job of cleaning and will not damage the hardened area of the morse taper.

Sometimes a morse taper on an accessory may be too long for a particular machine. If this is the case, grind a little off the tang end until it seats properly.

A drill chuck with a morse taper is usually inserted into the tailstock, and a light tap with a mallet should seat the drill chuck securely and tightly. The drill chuck should not spin in the tailstock when the drill bit contacts the rotating wood.

The lathe speed should be reduced to prevent heat buildup and burning of the drill and material or lathe The larger the hole, the slower the speed. I usually set the speed of the lathe for drilling at about one-half the speed at which I would turn the work, but for large holes, above 1" in diameter, I will reduce the speed even more. The drill bit should be sharp, the shavings crisp and clean, and the process should sound right—no chatter or sounds of wood tearing out. If it sounds right and no smoke is being produced, it probably is drilling at the correct speed and is right.

Some morse tapers used on drill chucks have a tang that can slip into a slot and provide holding power which will prevent the tool from rotating during the drilling process. In some cases, the tang may need to be ground off a bit to shorten the length of the morse taper and allow it to seat properly. Also, some mini lathes will not accept a full-length morse taper and the length may need to be reduced so the morse taper will seat properly.

I have used double-faced tape on several occasions for turning plates and have had a problem removing the turning from the faceplate. What is the best way to remove and separate the turning from the tape without damage?

Double-faced tape is a convenient and secure way to fasten a flat surface to a flat surface. It is best to use a flat, clean waste block screwed to a metal faceplate. Be sure the waste block material is dry, as double-faced tape will not stick to wet wood. Don’t put the double-faced tape directly on the metal faceplate because heat from the headstock may transfer through the metal and cause the joint to fail.

A typical plate will be held in the area of the foot ring, the center of which is recessed. The foot ring itself is usually about one-half the diameter of the plate or platter, with the seating area 3/4" to 1" wide.

This is the only part of the turning which will be secured with the double-faced tape. Mark the waste block to indicate the area which will be in contact with the foot ring. Cut pieces of double-faced tape to cover the contact area, but don’t overlap the pieces. Little gaps between the pieces of tape are no problem, and the tape may extend outside the marked area without causing a problem because there is nothing to stick to.

The platter or plate blank must be flat and clean with the outside turned, sanded, and mostly finished, but the foot ring should not be finished. It should be sanded smooth, with all dust removed, and ready for applying the finish.

Center the foot ring on the faceplate. One way to do this is to mark a circle on the waste block about 1/8" diameter larger than the foot ring. This will allow the foot ring to be visually centered. Remove the masking layer from the tape, then press the plate onto the waste block and apply firm, steady pressure. A good way to do this is using the tailstock as a clamp to force the plate against the waste block. Keep pressure on the area of contact for five or so minutes.

Once the plate is turned, sanded, and the finish applied, the work can be removed from the waste block. I have found that using a thin wedge, such as a knife blade or very thin chisel inserted into the joint line, will start the separation of the two pieces. At this point, grasp the rim of the plate and slowly exert a firm, even pressure, watching the joint where the wedge was inserted. The joint should separate. Easy does it. It may take a minute or so, but it will come apart. Some of the tape may adhere to the plate, but just roll the tape off the wood with your thumb. Sand the foot ring lightly and apply the finish.

My lathe has a traditional tool rest and I have never been very happy with it. However, I have seen the ones made from the round stock and wonder what, if anything, do the round tool rests have over the traditional flat ones?

The purpose of the tool rest is to support the turning tool and to make it easy to move the tool into positions necessary to facilitate the turning process. To do this, the tool rest must provide several conditions. It should be straight and smooth with no nicks or irregular areas. I prefer cast-iron tool rests as they are more rigid than fabricated iron of the same weight and dimension. It should be shaped in a way as to allow the work to be close to the tool rest, yet not rub or interfere with the turning. It should have a grooved or recessed area along the bottom front edge to allow the forefinger of the hand holding the chisel to follow the movement of the tool in a controlled manner. This makes planing cuts with a skew or parallel cuts with gouges much easier, producing surfaces which are parallel to the tool rest and smooth along the surface. Several cast-iron tool rests provide these conditions. Round-bar tool rests offer woodturners increased versatility with the ability to interchange rests as needed, but they don’t have the vibration dampening ability of cast iron. Round-bar stock is readily available and can be easily bent into desired shapes, then welded to the tool rest post. In summary, decide which type of tool rest will best suit your needs and proceed from there.

I’m new to turning and have been experiencing torn grain on some of my bowls. Someone told me to “shear scrape after applying an oil” to the affected areas and I don’t quite understand what they are suggesting. Can you explain the technique?

Tearout in the surface areas of a bowl is usually caused by cutting unsupported fibers, which tend to fold over in the figured areas rather than being cut clean. This frequently occurs in end grain or areas of changing grain directions.

This is more common in softer woods such as soft maple, curly or quilted maple, alder, redwood, and box elder. Some of the other soft woods also present the same problem, but tearout is not a major problem in dry hardwoods. One solution to tearout is to avoid woods which are prone to this problem. However, there are other solutions to eliminating or reducing tearout. Using tools freshly sharpened and making light cuts will reduce tearout significantly. It is common knowledge that applying oil to rough areas of bowls will usually result in a cleaner cut when accomplished with a freshly sharpened gouge. The oiled surface will allow the gouge to cut the fibers cleaner and with less tearout. It doesn’t seem to matter whether or not the oil has a chance to dry. The results can be almost magical.

When shear scraping is done, the surface frequently will be glass smooth. The term “shear scraping cut” seems to be a mutually exclusive term. One might ask how this can be accomplished. The term is a combination of a shearing cut being made without the bevel rubbing. In scraping, the bevel does not rub the work, neither does the bevel rub during a shear scraping cut. However, when the cut is being done with a gouge, the cutting edge of the gouge contacts the work in such a way that the fine shaving being removed is nearly parallel to the cutting circle produced by the gouge, but the bevel is not rubbing. Only the cutting edge of the gouge is in contact with the work.

Fig. 1 (at right) shows the position of a bowl gouge in a shear scraping mode. Note the cutting edge is parallel to the cutting circle, producing a fine shaving when the cut is made from small to large diameter. This method of cutting pushes the wood fibers into the wood ahead of them, giving support for a clean cut. The cutting edge needs to be sharpened frequently because it doesn’t last long when this type of cut is being made. The position of the tool when this cut is being made is with the handle being held low and supported against the leg, allowing for the smooth, flowing curves to be achieved.

There are a number of shear scraping tools on the market. You may want to check out shear scraping tools made by Kelton Tools and Woodcut Tools, as well as shear scraping tips and tools from Robert Sorby.