Non-Slip Ring Chuck

This video is 11 minutes long. In addition to the Non-Slip Ring Chuck, it also shows you how to line up the parting tool and where to cut the next ring.

Ron Brown’s Best, LLC

Feb. 2025

Why:

We recently turned a blank 1.25” thick with our prototype Big Boy Parting tool. One of the challenges we faced with cutting rings that thick using a Plywood back plate as a friction chuck was keeping it from spinning and causing a catch. We used spray contact adhesive to attach sandpaper to the plywood in hopes it would provide enough friction to prevent our blank from spinning. It worked, but not very well. This method also ground the corner off our parting tool each time and we had to regrind the tool!

What:

So, I was thinking about how we could provide a friction chuck with a positive lock. Although the lathe might stall if we got a catch, the blank would not spin against the friction chuck. My solution is to use a two-disk friction chuck with a 4” square in the center of the front plate. We epoxied a 4” square waste block to the back of the turning blank (we will discard it later or turn it down for the base), which will fit into the recess in the front plate and stop the blank from rotating. It works like a charm!

Cardboard Spoil Board

If we wish to avoid making cuts directly into the front plate of HDPE, we will need to create some kind of spoil board. It should be inexpensive, made of readily available material, and work with our square waste block. Drawing from my CNC experience, I have a solution! Regular cardboard is approximately 1/8” thick. Cut an 11.5” disk with a 4” square hole in the middle. Slip it over the 4” square waste block against your blank and mount the whole thing into the Non-Slip Ring Chuck; it's simple, cheap, and effective.

I’ve used this cardboard trick for years with my CNC when I need to cut through the material, but I don’t want to destroy my CNC table. Using this common cardboard spoil board trick, your non-slip ring chuck should last indefinitely. You should be able to use the cardboard spoil board multiple times before you have to discard it.

Best of all, the Non-Slip Ring Chuck can be used with any thickness or size blank. However, it is not suitable for 10 swing lathes as the disks are 11-3/8” in diameter.

Who:

Anyone making bowls from a board on the lathe will benefit from this method. Pressing the blank up against a friction chuck is much faster than using a waste block and having to remove and reinstall it for each ring. This method saves a ton of time.

When:

After you have prepared your blank and are ready to cut the rings, you will love using the new Non-Slip Ring Chuck.

Other:

• You will need to provide 4x4 squares for the waste block. The cutout in the front plate of your Non-Slip Ring Chuck is 4 inches square and ½” deep. You may use ¾” thick material for the waste block by using two pieces of cardboard spoil board, which are approximately 1/8” thick. ½ + 1/8 +1/8 = ¾. Your blanks should sit firmly against the Non-Slip Ring Chuck front plate.
• We provide you with a Cardboard Spoil Board but recommend you save it and use it as a template to make more.
• Epoxy: We recommend using 5-minute epoxy and waiting 1 hour for it to fully cure.
• Yellow Glue: if you use yellow glue (Titebond 2), we suggest letting it cure overnight for best results.
• Hardwood works best for the waste block. CDX-grade plywood is not recommended, as it is prone to separation. Baltic Birch plywood may be okay, but we have not tried it ourselves.
• The Non-Slip Ring Chuck is 11-3/8” in diameter. You can successfully use larger blanks; the rings will fall behind the chuck when you cut fully through.