Jonzjob, the most versatile system I believe is the
McNaughton Centre Saver
Some alternates are:
Woodcut Bowl saver with a more limited range of sizes catered for.
The
The OneWay system I think this is the most robust system.
The Sorby slicer that Dave refers to is OK for certain tasks, especially on large blanks but being a straight tool is limited in the number of cores that can be saved from any given piece, the cores are naturally cone shaped and of somewhat smaller volume than those saved using a curved blade system, but at £35.00 for the basic blade without any handles it has a useful roll.
With all these systems though you do need a lathe with a reasonable sized motor (1-1/2 HP upwards if you intend regular use) the loads resultant from tool clearance limitations and binding chippings can be quite high even if regular chip clearance is practiced, I have limited experience of using the Sorby on a 1HP machine and it is bordering on the limits at times, as to whether I would have the strength to work with it on a more powerful motor I doubt, this is another advantage the captive tool systems have, all that can happen is the motor stall.
Take the above comments as just my opinion on the subject, others may be along with more experience of the differing systems to shed a better light on one system or the other.
