Thread: turn plates

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OK, consider this. If you could make the upper and lower plates round and make them just a tad bigger, at 14.323956" diameter, then each 0.125" around the outer perimeter would equal one degree. You could glue a cloth (actually, they're fiberglass, I keep one in my drag strip toolbag) seamstresses tape around the bottom plate perimeter and attach a pointer off the top plate.

So you have a top plate and a bottom plate. For a locating device, heavy wall aluminum tubing. Sleeve could be, for instance, 2 1/2" O.D. with 1/4" wall. Bore 2 1/2" hole in bottom plate to accept tubing. Glue vinyl tile to each plate and coat liberally with grease.

If you don't like Tech's vinyl tile idea, what about using his sketch as a starting point and putting a large tapered roller bearing in the center, like the carrier bearing from a Dana style rear end? Drop the outer down in the recessed hole in the bottom, then put your inner bearing in place and the plate riding on it. Should work as long as you keep the load centered.