Thread: Which live centre to buy?

Ah you have a choice.

When I went to purchase a live center some two years ago there was only one left so that's the one that I purchased. I ended up with the Premium one.

Premium 60° Live Centre : CARBA-TEC

I use it all the time and yes I have nicked it with the turning chisel.

I use a cup and point with a removable point, those big points look like log splitters to me.

Following Christos link I see Carbetec have one that looks like mine for $82 that they call

" Premium Hollow Rotating Drive Centre " nonsense

I have a Oneway Live Center Set:

Live Centres

Oneway Live Center - Rockler Woodworking Tools

It is wonderful, with options for cup center, cup center with point, large point, bull nose and hollow cone. I use it on a 350mm swing lathe. With large out of balance bowl blanks the center is completely up to the task.

Cup center with point is the most used, as the cup holds very well and will not cause the spindle to split as easily as with just a point. The center is also hollow and permits drilling a 5/16 inch hole in a spindle while held between centers.

I also have one of these: NOVA LIVE CENTRE SYSTEM

It is perfectly adequate but not a finely finished as the Oneway system.

With a limited budget I would get one like this:

Live Tailstock Center - #2 MT at Penn State Industries

Thanks for the feedback. In the end, I went for the dual bearing live centre, with the simple centre point. My lathe is a metal lathe as well, so the dual bearing will give much better support for metal turning when I do that. The all-in-one models do look nice - I might put one on my christmas list. Thanks!

These are the best live centres I have used.

http://vermec.tripod.com/PDFs/Live_Centres.pdf

The 4 in 1 set is fantastic. Quality stuff that you will have for a loooong time.

Ha, funny thing is that Carbatec do sell the Vermec 4-in-1 set but I didn't see it, because I was looking in the "Live Centres" section, but all the Vermec parts are under their own section, so I didn't even see this one when I ordered! Looks like a nice set.

Hi SD,
The one that Brendan Stemp is the one I wood go for, & I think the $45 wood do the job.
Not that you can find them anywhere, Because I make these myself, but I use a No2.MT. Arbor with the same Ring & Cone, as my Drive Dog.
Wood cannot come out of the Lathe, as it just spins. I have been using this System for many years now, approx 9 yrs.
Very hard to convince Turners that they really work extra well. I sell them for $22 + Postage.