Drive Centers for Your Wood Lathe
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- Опубліковано 29 сер 2024
- I show different drive centers and explain the pros and cons of each for holding wood between centers for wood turning.
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Thanks for the explanation on the spring drive centers, completely answered all my questions 😀
Glad to help!
Hello Mike, I agree, the Sorby Steb centres are worth the expense and use them with the corresponding live centres makes spindle turning more efficient and safer.
Hi Mike, Thanks for the informative video. I am new to woodturning and was looking for a drive centre to use instead of the 4 prong one that came with my lathe. After seeing your video I bought the Sorby 5/8" Steb Centre. Works like a charm. I find your videos very helpful. :)
Glad I could help.
I got a drive center with the four blades when I got my first lathe. Here's what I did: find the center with an X, indent the center with a large nail to recess the point into the wood, next I tap the drive center with a plastic mallet to light mark the blades. A large screwdriver makes the marks deeper so there is no need to insert the drive center in the head stock and mess up the bearings.
Glad that works for you. If you do a lot of spindle turning, a spring loaded multi point steb type center is a lot less effort since you can just crank it in a bit.
@@MikePeaceWoodturning That will work. My wife says I'm an old crank!
Hey Mike. Thanks for the tips. I agree on the four prong center. I use the steb center most of the time. A tip from “The Arkansas Wood Whirler” channel is to counter sink the center about 1/8 inch. Make it almost impossible for the work to leave the lathe.
Good point. I sometimes do that when using the large steb center with a bowl.
Nice explanation. Allow me to add two comments: First, many pen turners are now using the very old fashioned 60 degree cone dead center (which used to be used in the tailstock with a bit of grease on the tip to allow the wood to spin) as a drive center. This allows them to mount pen blanks onto the lathe without the use of a pen mandrel. Second, for spindle work, I use the 'safe center' from Oneway. It's like the cup center shown in the video, but the cup is smaller in diameter. Like Mike, I put some small grooves in the cup to help it get a better bite. (I used a small round file. With the drive mounted in the headstock and the headstock locked, it took only a couple of minutes to make the grooves.) I might prefer a steb center, but I don't have one. However, I find the safe center, as modified, to be more than adequate for virtually all my spindle turning tasks. If the wood spins, I just tighten the tailstock a little more and/or take lighter cuts.
Thanks for your comments, David!
Loving all these old tips you have up Mike. I think about something i want to try in turning and you always have a video up for me to check out. I sure appreciate you video catalog - thank you.
Thanks for that, Ron. Safe turning.
I find the 4 prong just great, simply using a forstner bit with slightly larger diameter and drilling into the wood maybe 3mm.
Good tip. Thanks.
Hi Mike,
The only live center I have is like the one you showed with the 4 "ga-zin-tas",,,which came with my used Delta Midi lathe.
Somewhere down the road I'll buy a better one but for now I'll struggle with the one I have.
Thanks for explaining about each one cuz it will help me to decide which one to buy.
Keep the tips coming,,,,I can use allllll you got! LOL
Tom
You can always grind off 2 of the opposing spurs to make it easier to use in end grain.
Good information! Thx-
Hi Mike. Thanks for the video. I have the Sorby Stebcenters in both 1/2' and 7/8" as well as the revolving one for the tail. For the most part they work well however I recently attempted to use the 7/8" w/ the revolving one on the tail on a piece of year old pin or live oak, approximately 3" diam x 5" long. I found no matter how tight I cranked the tail stock those centers barely made a dent in that oak. Basically useless. In fact the tailstock was actually starting to slide back on the lathe bed. That's when I stopped. Didn't want to damage lathe bearings, etc. Long story short LOL what live centers do you recommend for the more harder woods when the project is best done w/o use of a screw chuck or face plate?
This video is on live centers and should describe what I use. ua-cam.com/video/5jNUqwr17iM/v-deo.html
If your tailstock is slipping it needs adjusting the locking nut.
@@MikePeaceWoodturning Checked that out. Thanks but still looking. Perhaps a bit of a countersink as I saw mentioned here somewhere would do it. Thanks again sir.
I have that very same center finder! Smack the wood with a hammer. Do 4 times and center marked.
I have the Sorby, or is it a Nova?, can't recall. I like it and recommend it but it is the chuck insertion type which goes into my Nova chucks. I prefer this design since I will rough out a spindle piece, but a tenon, take out the step center easily then insert the spindle piece, now round into the chuck and away I go with it.
Lots of folks do it that way and it is handy to gage the size. I just don't like turning a tenon that close to the jaws. I always make my tenon on the TS side.
That is one of those things that is a personal style or preference. Whatever works for you. For me, I tend to remove the chuck after a project so I am typically approaching the lathe with a blank to rough out and popping in MT center is kind of second nature, probably because that is way I started not having a lathe mounted steb. I bought a Nova drive to go in the chuck and hated it because the center point is so long compared to the 4 prongs you really have to crank down to get all 5 points in contact with the wood. A steb center would be much nicer.
I need to get one of those chuck mounted steb centers since I turn on a shopsmith.
I never turned on a Shopsmith. I gather from the small spindle it does not have a Morse taper? If not, sounds like a chuck mounted steb is the way to go.
I turn on a Shopsmith too. Maybe we could compare notes sometime.
A drive centre I like for bigger things is an elio drive.
I made something similar based on a design by Al Stirt of wood with bolts and T nuts. I use for very large bowls so it does not get much use. I made it before I ever so an Elio drive.
those are some nice centers but i can only use one that fits on my shaft 3/4-16 i dont have a morse taper on my lathe
Get one to fit your chuck. Or if you are serious about woodturning, time to start saving for a bigger lathe. Lots of good minis out there with 1x8 spindle with Morse taper
thanks for the tips Mike, can you tell me if there is a reason the drive is in the left on all lathes?
No that is a mystery. I am guessing it has to do with most folks being right handed.
I ran across your comment again and gave it some thinking. Motors spin toward you which causes them to be toward your left since to cut the wood you want the piece spinning toward you.
Mike, new to turning. My drive center has become stuck. Will not tap out of head stock. Looking for solutions?
Use a mallet. If it breaks the plastic knob, turn a new one. Keep your taper cleaner from here on.
I searched youtube for a video on sharpening drive centres. Still can't find one. :(
Thanks. Maybe I can include in a future lathe accessroies or maintenance video.
mike which drive center do you recommend,,the one I had was the stebcenter type and needless to say I lost the center point as well,,lol
Long term, I like the smallest Sorby steb. Not the cheapest.
Hi Mike,
I enjoy your videos and am a subscriber. I was looking at buying a Sorby steb center based on it being a better quality...they always say you only need to buy quality "once". I prefer to buy only one size if possible and wonder which size you would suggest...1/2" or 7/8"? I don't do a lot of spindle work but mostly boxes, vases and some bowls. I currently have a 12" lathe but will upgrade in the near future I suspect as I'm a fairly new turner and finding my way yet. I noticed the picture of the Sorby 1/2" steb center shown at Craft Supply has a "stepped" shape and the one at Amazon is straight...not sure why that is...are there 2 kinds of the 1/2" size? I was leaning towards the 1/2" and then perhaps also getting a 2" Elio Drive. Please share your thoughts. Thanks, Myles
I have a larger one that gets little use. I use the half inch for my primary drive center. The Elio should be great for face grain projects.
Thanks Much.
Hi Mike my Lathe came with a 4 prong centre would you recommend grinding two off ?
If it is the only one you have, yes.
See this, I don't like it. Don't use this. Don't like this. Yada yada. Which one do you use?
I mostly use a Sorby 7/8" steb center acquired after I made this video.