Sharpening four prong drive centre?

[TONY MALIN]

Steve centres are spring loaded and you need to take care when parting off.

[TONY MALIN]

I've just noticed that I must be more careful and check that the i-pad predictive text hasn't taken over.
Steve was chosen for stab. Getting worse isn't it. I'll have another stab. Steve shut up for steb's sake.
Ah well as they say "silly things for simple minds".

[Graham]

That makes a bit more sense now 

[seventhdevil]

as a Steve i'll quite happily have a tool named after me, when do i start to get money for allowing use of my name?

[Graham]

It has to be split between ALL the Steves 

[TONY MALIN]

and all the Steb's. No no no not Steb's  all the Stebs.
Apple needs to learn about the correct usage of tha apostrophe.

[MCB]

.... just make a wooden mallet and hit it harder thereby driving it a bit deeper and helping it grip better. ......

Accepting that using a hammer may cause other problems........

What wood would  you suggest using to make a wooden mallet?

And what weight head?

MC

I  suspect that my four prong centre would  NOT hold the blank for a mallet head so I'm  thinking now of a copper hammer.

Such a tool would  come in handy for other jobs too.

Comments?

MC

[seventhdevil]

just out of curiosity what size square are you turning that you are having trouble with and what species are they???

i turn large squares out of sycamore and beech 100% seasoned for my skittles and do occasionally have the same problem (once every couple of sets) but my steb centre is a bit past it and could do with a new one and it's usually because i've not wound the tailstock in enough.

the squares i use are 5"+ so it's understandable that taking too much in one go could spin the drive in the wood, to overcome this i've found that speeding up the wood gives it more momentum and therefore has less chance of stopping.

a sharp roughing gouge helps as well.

[MCB]

just out of curiosity what size square are you turning that you are having trouble with and what species are they???
.......
a sharp roughing gouge helps as well.

The Ash blanks are 1.5 or 2 inches square. I'm  making handles for some unhandled chisels.

The Four Prong centre is  VERY old - it came with the second-hand lathe when I  acquired it.

With best wishes and thanks. 
 
MC

[seventhdevil]

why not drill your tool hole first and use a friction drive turned from another bit of wood?

[MCB]

The Four Prong centre is  VERY old - it came with the second-hand lathe when I  acquired it.

The blades on the four prong centre are about a millimetre wide.

I'll  try sharpening them with a grinding bit on my Dremel but fear the will leave it lacking symmetry.

MC

[TONY MALIN]

MCB you say blades are 1mm wide. Seems odd to me.
I have one 1" dia with blades 5/16" wide and a small one 3/8" dia with blades 1/8" wide.
Dead easy to sharpen with a smoothish file. I wouldn't put them anywhere near a wheel.
For 2" square ash I would even use a two bladed drive.
I use a bit of 2" square cast off oak as a mallet.
Don't be tempted to bang the wood onto the drive once it's in the headstock, or you'll soon need new bearings.

[MCB]

MCB you say blades are 1mm wide. Seems odd to me.
I have one 1" dia with blades 5/16" wide and a small one 3/8" dia with blades 1/8" wide.
Dead easy to sharpen with a smoothish file. I wouldn't put them anywhere near a wheel.
For 2" square ash I would even use a two bladed drive.
I use a bit of 2" square cast off oak as a mallet.
Don't be tempted to bang the wood onto the drive once it's in the headstock, or you'll soon need new bearings.

Each blade is  approximately 10mm long and 1mm wide.

Perhaps I  should  have written “1mm thick” - sorry if this caused any confusion

MCB

[Steve Jones]

Another Steve here, I never use the Steb centres and have no problems with the standard drive. I would reccommend using a morse taper version of whichever style you pick. Unlike others I very occasionally sharpen mine on a small 6" grinding wheel, after many years this does mean you need to turn out the center to give enough clearance for the wings to grip the timber so for this reason I would not reccommend it unless you are happy turning metal. I have made a few centres from old drill bits. I have several sizes but use the 1" the most and find it will hold most sizes of timber. My largest is a 1 1/2 " and that holds fast almost anything.
I would never use a mallet with the timber in the lathe as this can't be good for the bearings. I have a strong tailstock on my lathes which create a lot of pressure easily.
I don't see any advantage of a spring loaded center and they are expensive.

[julcle]

Frans Brown makes a good one. It fits in-between the jaws of your chuck.