[Woodturning] Face plate

Hi,
I recently got the opportunity to purchase for a good price a batch of M33x3.5 nuts, which happen to be the thread of most of the European lathe spindles.
There is a lot of possibilities with these nuts, here are a couple of examples :

First example is a face plate.
http://www.labellenote.fr/file/homem...plateau_01.jpg
The nut is welded to a steel plate, then mounted on the metal lathe and the plate is then trued up.
The holes are drilled afterwards.

http://www.labellenote.fr/file/homem...plateau_02.jpg
Before welding, I had trued the face of the nut on the lathe (I have an M33 spindle that can be mounted on my metal lathe chuck)

And here we go:

http://www.labellenote.fr/file/homem...plateau_03.jpg

http://www.labellenote.fr/file/homem...plateau_04.jpg

http://www.labellenote.fr/file/homem...plateau_05.jpg

http://www.labellenote.fr/file/homem...plateau_06.jpg
Here, as I haven't got any 33mm spanner to unlock the nut after the turning (and dit not make one yet), I use this rubber band tool which appears to be very powerful.

http://www.labellenote.fr/file/homem...plateau_07.jpg

http://www.labellenote.fr/file/homem...plateau_08.jpg
I have often some difficulties to source plates of metal. Here is an idea ... (this is not what I used for the above example).

Christophe,
I like your metal and parts sourcing ideas. When I was kid, my mom would give me her old pots, pans and even clothes irons just for cutting up the metal to make tool parts. I think today the source would be garage sales. BTW - That is a nice looking wood lathe. Thanks for sharing,
Paul

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Thanks Christophe Mineau! We've added your Lathe Face Plate to our Wood Lathes category,
as well as to your builder page: Christophe Mineau's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

<div id="blocks"> <div class="block b1 pngfix"> <div class="bimg"> <div> <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/lathe-face-plate-2"> <img src="/uploads/145999/lathe-face-plate-2.jpeg"/> </a> </div> </div> <div class="head pngfix"></div> <div class="left pngfix"></div> <div class="right pngfix"></div> <div class="blockover b1 pngfix"> <div class="title"> <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/lathe-face-plate-2">Lathe Face Plate</a> <span> by <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/builder/Christophe+Mineau">Christophe Mineau</a></span> </div> <div class="tags">tags: <a href='http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/lathe'>lathe</a> </div> </div> </div> </div>
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That's a great idea to get metal! I wonder if cast iron would work for a faceplate, or if it would be too soft. It comes pretty thick anyway. I imagine that aluminum would also be common in a lot of cookware, which is weaker than steel so I imagine best to go a little thicker with that material.

You got me thinking! Really what a great idea to get thicker metal, which can be expensive. I did the same thing, but used 2" or 3" steel washers. I had to keep them small because any bigger than that and it gets very expensive very fast. I suppose because the area of a circle increases much faster than the diameter so there's a lot of difference in amount of steel in 3" vs" 6" washers. That's why it usually pays to buy a large pizza, not a small or medium! :)

Bigger than 3", I would have to order stock from a supplier. But maybe not any more, thanks for the tip.