IMPROVE THE GRIP ON YOUR SCROLL CHUCK by Rick Harrell

Being a little heavy handed and impatient, I have, on more occasions than I'm willing to admit, knocked an almost completed work loose from my One Way chuck and watched in dismay as it careened around the garage.

One day, while visiting Jim Young in his shop, I saw him whip out the "Hot Stuff" and actually glue the jaws of his Nova chuck to the spigot of a hollow form he was working on. I couldn't believe that he would ever be able to get it loose (I have first hand knowledge of the holding power of Cyanoacrylate Glue, having once glued my hand to my Woodfast Lathe).

The glue worked beautifully to firm up the grip of the Nova around the spigot and when Jim had finished the piece, the mechanical advantage of the chuck easily broke the glue bond. There was very little glue residue on the chuck and it was easily scraped off. I now use this technique on any piece that starts to get a little shaky on me and it has really helped.

Oh, and about that lathe incident. As it happened, I was home alone that day, the solvent was just out of reach and with a sale on at Nordstrom's, I knew my wife wouldn't be home for hours. I considered calling out to my neighbors but what was I to say? "Help, I've glued myself to a 400 pound lathe and I can't Get Up". I don't think so.

I eventually worked myself free with a small dowel by rolling it under my fingers and palm. Although painful, this experience did help me to formulate another useful woodturning tip; "Never glue yourself to anything that you can't carry". It is not a sign of innate intelligence....

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MAKE YOUR OWN SANDING DISKS by Nan Bushley

Tired of paying the big bucks for those velcro power sanding pads and discs? Here is how I make my own. I bought some plain rubber discs on a 1/4" mandrel . I then bought some 1/2" medium density foam rubber and 1/16" gasket material from San Diego Rubber Co. (check the yellow pages for a local supplier of rubber products). I first glue the medium density foam onto the rubber disc, and then top it off with the gasket material using a heat resistant rubber cement also purchased from San Diego Rubber. You can then either use adhesive sandpaper or just spray regular sandpaper with 3-M Adhesive and you have an easily changed and inexpensive power sanding disc.

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WINE STOPPER MANDREL by Rick Harrell

The setup above is what I use to turn Wine Bottle Stoppers. The mandrel is made from a 3/8" hanger bolt (these bolts have wood threads on one end and machine threads on the other). I remove the first inch of machine threads on the grinder and then mount the mandrel in a Jacobs chuck.

I prepare a number of 2" square turning blanks at one time by drilling a 3/8" hole in the center of each. I can then mount and turn them one after another by simply screwing them onto the threads of the mandrel until they seat against the chuck. I glue in the 3/8" dowel and attach the cork after all the blanks are turned and finished.

I use to glue the dowels into the blanks first, and then mount the dowel directly into the Jacobs chuck. The dowels would often break, however, and the blank would be wasted. I have found that this technique is not only faster but that it also eliminates the flexing and chatter that occurred when chucking the blank by its dowel.

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SOLUTION FOR A DUSTY FACE SHIELD by Ira King

I have found if you use Armorall type spray on your face shield or it's cover, you don't have to worry about dust or static cling. When polished after applying the liquid, the shield becomes so slick that dust slides right off. Try it, it works great.

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