When doing spindle work "how snug should the piece be"? Do you tighten the tailstock just enough to create friction so the piece doesn't slip or should you tighten it up real snug? I'm talking about a 2" square X 24" long.
Thanks
You really ought to seat the drive center with a mallet, then tighten the tailstock quill to seat the tailstock center snugly, then back it off a bit. Ball bearing live centers are best.
Barry
Hello Buck,
If you have cut a cross on the headstock end for the spur drive to fit into, the normal procedure is to tighten up the tailstock fairly snug to seat the wood onto the spur and then back off the pressure a bit. Only experience will tell you how much to back off. You do not want so much pressure that it causes the piece of wood to bow slightly in the middle. This can cause a lot of problems, out of round, chatter on the surface of the wood, etc.
I personally use a Steb Center to drive my spindle work and it does require some pressure to make the little points on the drive center dig into the wood. It is nice in that you can back off the tailstock a bit and actually stop the spindle to inspect it without taking it off of the lathe or stopping the lathe.
Even on a 24 inch spindle, it would be good to have a center steady to help stabilize the wood for turning. If you are going to do very much spindle work, I recommend you either purchase a center steady or make one. There are several plans kicking around on how to make them. A search of Google might readily turn up their location.
Fred Holder
Fred.... thanks for info and I enjoyed your web site.
Check Alan Lacers's site, he recomends for beginers a dead center. With that you can adjust the drive to slip the spindle so if you get a catch the piece with stop and slip on the drive center. If you need more drive tighten the tail center. It is great for learning the skew as you are not worrying about catches. hope this helps.
My advice is to use a cup center at the tailstock, one which provides a point and a rim. Give this a tap to make the circle show. If you have this type of center, versus a point only, the tactic of seating the fangs and backing works best. With a simple point, you open up for a catch and squirm dismount.
How tight is enough? Meet it, don't squeeze it.
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