This is how I find the center on the bottom of a bowl, before I glue on the waste block and turn it.  

How does everyone else find the center of a circle?  I know there are many methods.  

 

SQ

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It it can't be fixed with glue and sawdust - it's not worth fixing.

Cool idea!

I use one of these- 

it works for both round and square pieces

My husband just bought one of those (ours is yellow) from Woodcraft but I have not tried to use it - yet.  So you just draw a line from corner to corner and where they intersect is the center, right?   I'm so use to making a big production out of finding the center using the above mentioned technique - that plastic gizmo just seems too easy.   

 

SQ


Lewis Kauffman said:

Cool idea!

I use one of these- 

it works for both round and square pieces

Cool idea but just a tad complicated for me.

 

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Greg
http://www.thesawdustfactory.net/

If the object is exactly square, the center finder guide will lie directly from corner to corner. I always draw my lines by rotating the finder at each corner. Ideally there will be a perfect "X" with two lines crossing at the center. In reality, there are usually 4 lines on the end of the square and the center is "approximated".

If the stock is round, just draw a line along the guide, rotate the finder approximately 90 degrees and draw another line. Where the lines cross will be the center of the stock. 

The center finder has a side dedicated to square stock- the side with the fences at 90 degrees- shown in the picture. Flip the finder over and the fences are at about 45 degrees- this side is dedicated to round stock.


SQ said:

My husband just bought one of those (ours is yellow) from Woodcraft but I have not tried to use it - yet.  So you just draw a line from corner to corner and where they intersect is the center, right?   I'm so use to making a big production out of finding the center using the above mentioned technique - that plastic gizmo just seems too easy.   

 

SQ

Lewis Kauffman said:

 

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It it can't be fixed with glue and sawdust - it's not worth fixing.

This section is from the book "Handy Man's Workshop And Laboratory", by A. Russell Bond. Also available from Amazon: Handy Man's Workshop And Laboratory.

Handy Method Of Finding The Center Of A Shaft

In Fig. 120 the circle represents a section of a shaft, the center of which it is desired to find. The corner of a square is placed on any point of the circumference. The points A and B are the intersections of the outer sides of the square with the circumference. Draw a line from A to B. Now shift the square a little, as represented by the dotted square, and with the corner on any other point mark the intersections A' and B', then connect A' and B', and the intersection of A B and A' B' will be the required center. It is necessarily the center, for it is the intersection of the two diameters.

 

 

jack

English machines

I use the same item that Lewis posted up.  Mine is yellow, too.

 

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Semper fi
www.swearingen-turnings.com