Drive Centres

[Sheptonphil]

I used to mark the drive end centre, use a rubber mallet to tap the drive centre in to get the blades seated. When put on the lathe the tail stock re-seats the drive and adds pressure where trying to use tail pressure alone to seat it just didn't dig it in enough.

When you get to like turning and try a Steb, you will never use a two or four prong again for normal turning of hard dry wood. Self seating and as much limited slip as you want to impart.

Phil

 

[Robbo3]

I use a large two prong drive for big wet stuff, it just gives a better grip. Phil

Also a two prong is good for timber that hasn't been cut square across the end. With a four prong you can often only get one prong to bite whereas the two prong can be orientated to get both prongs in the wood.

I knock my drives in with a mallet over the leg of the workbench or on the floor. Using a hammer will either mushroom the end of the drive or damage it completely.

 

[marcros]

So 4 prong for dry square timber, 2 prong for anything that fails one of those two criteria. If the budget allows a steb centre will do better than either? For anything small, ring centres...?

 

[Robbo3]

A steb centre is ideal for production work where the work is loaded & removed without stopping the lathe - no rants about safety please

A ring centre is ideal for split turnings where the point can force the joint apart but the outer ring prevents it. One with an adjustable point is ideal.

A two prong drive can be used anywhere that a four prong can be used with the advantage, that I mentioned earlier, of having both prongs drive a slanted end.

These are all generalizations. If you try to turn a large heavy log with a small drive, the start up torque, especially on fixed speed lathes, will likely result in the drive drilling a hole.