Thread: latest piece

Gaz,
my experience with drive centers and hardwoods leads me to think that there must be some that are made for the job .
The conventional 4 spurs ones are ok for softer timbers , but I have had hard dry stuff start to split when tapping them in , so I too await the incoming info

I can't really offer a technique, more a purchase. I made a steb-center type drive in high school, and use it for everything. They are great for hardwood because the center cone pushes back on a spring, and on softwood they don't drift off to the side following the soft growth rings. Carba-tec and others have them.

http://www.carbatec.com.au/woodturni...e-drive-centre

A couple of drawbacks;
- They don't cope with blanks that don't have square faced ends because the whole ring can't engage and could lever itself of the spring loaded cone

- The spring can place excessive pressure on thin pieces - at this point I am probably using a jacobs chuck or scroll chuck.

To get a purchase for the drive center saw a cross (x) in the end of the blank then tap the center in with a rubber mallet.

Robomanic
I've had my sights on a steb-centre because of is reputation to hold the piece. It follows to have variety of centres for different jobs...off to CT again.

orraloon
Excellent tip. So simple!
I had a saw in my hand whilst trying to figure it out too. I was ready to cut the waste off and start again, then put it down and grabbed a screw driver.Typically, the answer was staring me in the face the whole time.

Cheers
Gazza

Originally Posted by badgaz

Robomanic
I've had my sights on a steb-centre because of is reputation to hold the piece. It follows to have variety of centres for different jobs...off to CT again......

Wouldn't be in too big a hurry - I've got one you can have real cheap! They make a better hole-saw than they do a drive-centre - IMHO . . . . . . . . . . . . . back to my cupboard now

Originally Posted by TTIT

Wouldn't be in too big a hurry - I've got one you can have real cheap! They make a better hole-saw than they do a drive-centre - IMHO . . . . . . . . . . . . . back to my cupboard now

At the risk of hijacking the thread - what don't you like about it TTIT?

Vern, try this. Bore a small hole to accommodate the spur centre. Drive the spur centre into the wood with a soft mallet (brass, nylon or make a wooden mallet). Check the edges of the spur "cutters". If they are blunt, sharpen them on the grinder. A new spur drive seldom has sharp edges.
Jim

Originally Posted by Robomanic

At the risk of hijacking the thread - what don't you like about it TTIT?

It might just be that I'm too greedy or something but I find that no matter how I set it up it always starts slipping when I'm roughing down and all those sharp little teeth start boring a hole . So many short teeth just don't seem to dig in far enough (for me)

Originally Posted by powderpost

Vern, try this. Bore a small hole to accommodate the spur centre. Drive the spur centre into the wood with a soft mallet (brass, nylon or make a wooden mallet). Check the edges of the spur "cutters". If they are blunt, sharpen them on the grinder. A new spur drive seldom has sharp edges.
Jim

Not a normal spur Jim - the Steb-centre teeth are sharp short and many and the centre is spring loaded.

Not a normal spur Jim - the Steb-centre teeth are sharp short and many and the centre is spring loaded.

dont like em either......

The teeth on mine (custom) would be at a diameter of 20mm, which I think is about the same. My teeth are at a finer pitch so there are more of them, but maybe the difference is in their sharper angle allowing them to bed in better and their faces are closer to 90*? I was glad when I didn't have to bother with the saw but it does work well, and you get a good lead in for the center cone where they cross if the cuts are the right depth.

My experience is that the spurs will bed themselves in firmly to the northern hemisphere woods ,
but with the Australasian hardwoods , they chatter and chew out under stress .

Yep, I had a steb centre and disposed of it a long time ago. My comments were directed at the traditional four "cutter" spur drive.
Jim