Coffee Scoop Chuck Tutorial
Credit for this tutorial goes to Peggy Schmid of the Apple Ridge Turners. It has some minor revisions and
additions by Mike Peace
Four ¼” X 20 T Nuts
Materials:
One 1” X 5 ½” square base plate of hardwood
Four ¼ X 20 X 2” long machine
screws with Phillips heads.
One ¾” X 5 1 ½” square of hardwood for front donut
I tried plywood and did not like it.
The first step in creating your jig is to lay out the wood
so that you have square pieces. In this case we have used
1 x 6 Maple. The pieces are 5 1/2” square. Then use a
straight edge from corner to corner to find the center of
each piece and draw a line down creating an “X”.
Next cut out the square pieces on the band saw or your
table saw if you have a crosscut sled.
Drill one of the two pieces with a small drill bit. 1/8”
works well. Size does not matter however you do not
want to be so small that you cannot get a screw into the
wood.
Mount the piece center to center using the drill hole as
the guide. I use a Stebcenter but any drive center will
work.
Turn the square to round and create a tenon on the back
that is about 2” diameter. You can turn both pieces round
on the lathe probably easier than cutting with a bandsaw.
This will cause your disc to be smaller in thickness than
the other one but when you make the recess for the ball
of the scoop , you will compensate for this difference by
cutting a deeper hollow. Check your chuck for the
smallest size tenon it can clamp.
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Coffee Scoop Chuck Tutorial
Align the turned disc with the second square piece so that
the disc is centered on the square piece. An easy way to
align the two pieces is to lay a straight edge across the
center of the drilled hole and align it with the corners of
the square piece.
Attach both pieces with a single screw. The tenon should
be on the top. Later in the process you will use this tenon
to mount the jig for finishing.
With the two pieces aligned, mark the four “T” nut drill
points. Use the circle you marked with the skew and then
align with each of the four corners. Make sure the holes
are exactly opposite each other since they need to match
when you reverse the front donut plate.
Drill four 3/4” holes to install the “T” nuts.
Do not drill the holes deeper that it takes to flush the “t”
nuts with the wood surface.
Measure the shoulder of the “T” nut to determine the
correct size drill bit, probably 5/16”. Drill through both
pieces of wood. This will allow some play and make
fastening with screws easier.
Do this step before you round the front donut plate to
make it safer to hold the chuck when drilling. Stand the
wood on it’s side and clamp with a wood clamp. Use a
long shank Forstner bit 7/8” to drill down one side of the
jig. You should drill to just after the tenon. Use caution
when drilling and go slowly and clear the bit
frequently. Make sure the wood clamp makes contact
with the entire flat surface of the wood and is screwed
tight to avoid any slippage during drilling.
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Coffee Scoop Chuck Tutorial
Using a hammer, insert “T” nuts in all four holes. Drill a
recess for the screws so the screw head will be just below
the surface. This is just in case the tool rest slips when
the chuck is in use it won’t hit the screw heads! Flip the
pieces over and install at least two of the screws opposite
each other and not side by side. Securely fasten the two
pieces of wood together. Remove the center screw that
was holding the two pieces together during drilling or
you will hit the screw with your gouge when hollowing
the donut!
Use the tenon you created to chuck the two pieces into
the lathe. Turn to round.
Do not leave any sharp edges. Round these over to avoid
injury.
Using calipers, mark the center of the disc 1 1/2”. This is
the opening you will use to hollow through. Use a pencil
or lightly press the points of the caliper into the wood to
leave a fine line.
The points can dig into the wood and cause injury.
Use extreme caution and a light pressure.
Use a detail gouge to hollow the opening to the 1 1/2
diameter. The shoulders of this opening will be
approximately 1 3/4”. Round over the front edge so that
there are no sharp edges. Be aware that the screw heads
are close to the cutting area.
Stop hollowing when you have cut into the back disc.
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Coffee Scoop Chuck Tutorial
Separate the disc by removing the screws. Leave the back
disc in the chuck. Shape the bottom disc in the middle to
mimic the round ball of the scoop. This does not have to
be exact but it must be con-cave. You will be able to use
the jig for a variety of scoop sizes if you make this
concave larger than necessary. Do not go more that 3/8”
inches deep. Cutting into the disc deeper can cause the
tenon to fail.
Flip the front disc over so that the flat surface is out. Start
in the center and remove any remaining wood from the
previous hollowing. Round over all edges so that any
surface that makes contact with the ball of the scoop will
not leave a mark or depression.
Your final cuts should look something like this. The
shoulders of the opening will be close to 2”. Remove the
screws and flip this over. You are now ready to insert the
ball and handle you have turned for your scoop . Use all
four screws and tighten as evenly as possible. The handle
should be between the groove cut by the Forstner bits and
looks best when it is pushed back towards the back of the
jig.
Making the Scoops
Use blanks 6 1/2“ X 2” square. Make sure the bowl is round. Make
sure the design feels good in the hand with no points on the handle or
sharp beads. A 1 ¾” bowl will be close to 1 tbs. Turn a cylinder with
a tenon and shoulder to fit #2 jaws. When parting off at bowl at Tail
stock, support bowl with hand. Support it while sanding the tip
where parted off. Put the bowl in the donut chuck with handle toward
Headstock. Drill a depth hole with 3/8” bit in Jacobs chuck. Hollow
with spindle gouge followed up with a scraper. Make walls thin. Rechuck and continue to hollow if walls too thick when pulling out of
the chuck. When using the chuck the handle tilts back to get the
right angle on the scoop.
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Here is what some completed
scoops look like. Some folks add
captive rings.
Coffee Scoop Chuck Tutorial
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