Turning a Thin Platter

[Jim Bremer]

I've turned several large platters over the past year and would like to share some learnings on how to achieve a thin and elegant look. I like to work large, so my platters are all 20"-22" wide. To achieve a even 1/8" - 1/4" thickness, first turn the back of the platter and sand it to the desired finish. Then turn the front by starting with the outer 4 or 5 inches. Sand that portion before turning the remainder of the front. When turning at this scale you may get some warpage (or chatter) in the piece regardless of the wood type. This will result in uneven thicknesses. But that can be greatly minimized by leaving thickness in the center and working from the outside in. The result is a lighter and more desirable esthetic.

 

[John Abt]

Thanks for the info. I've tried to turn a couple of platters, but the chatter usually causes a lot of tear out on the outer edges. I'll give your suggestion a try.

John Abt

 

[pencheff]

..can be greatly minimized by leaving thickness in the center and working from the outside in.

That makes perfect sense, that the mass of the extra thickness in the center would help dampen chatter at the rim. Thanks for the tip!

How do you reverse these monsters to turn the foot? Vacuum chuck?

 

[Andy Coates]

platter technique

I use a slightly different technique which may be of interest, also.

When the blank is mounted I first clean up the chuck-side face of the blank by bringing the rest around the back of the blank. Depending on the wood I may use the parting tool to cut in as far down as the chuck and then clean up the cut with a shearing cut from a long-ground bowl gouge. And then abrade down to your usual grit.

After this I return to the conventional position and form the base aspect of the platter. The two things I find are helped greatly by this process are:

1) It provides a very clean upper rim surface to which detail can be added once the platter is reversed. This means that only the lightest of cuts need to be made which reduces wobble/vibration/tear-out.

2) Because the upper rim surface is already defined I find that I can cut much cleaner, appropriate, shapes for the underside aspect of the platter.

Once the base is complete reverse it onto the chuck and turn any detail you want into the already finished rim portion.

I find this works very well for me, and have used it on platters up to 28" in diameter.

Andy

 

[Jeff Jilg]

I agree with the comments above. Also, after one side already has finish cuts made, then make final cuts on the other side ~1" at a time. To be clear, one would final turn the outermost 1" and have all your final cuts on that 1". Then do final cuts on the next 1" diameter without going back to the outermost 1". Then continue 1" at a time toward the center.

The outer area will be supported during each phase by the next inner portion of the platter (or bowl). This helps reduce tearout. Also it helps avoid chatter.

If this process is not followed, and you go back to re-cut the outermost area you will probably get chatter. This is due to both warpage and the fact that thin pieces are also more flexible.