Wheel Blank Backing Plate

I need something to back the whole thing so that the brass teeth don`t bend under the force of the cutter. I have decided to back it with a piece of sacrificial wood. The cutter will follow through the brass into the wood and so will support the teeth from bending. I`ve seen this used in practice so I know it can work .... whether I can do it is a different story!

This is the wood I`m going to use with the wheel sat on top of it:


After some working on the wood (don`t like them damn brown flakes, they get everywhere!!) I got it down to size. I also used a thick brass sheet off-cut, turned it into a washer and mounted this at the front of the plate. This seemed to work really well, everything looks to be held down flush, running true and secure.



I then mounted the wheel blank in my RT and used a draw bolt to pull it through and clamp it down. Just need to change the chuck to my er32 collet chuck, mount the cutter and off I go .... in theory!



I also hardened the cutter this evening so tomorrow I really a ready to give it a whirl!

Chris