Shopsmith Forums

Did my first turning this week and enjoyed it. Used RIG grease to lubricate the cup center. Was considering purchasing a live center. How long do they last? Is it a piece I will need to replace frequently or once I buy will it last years and years?

How much difference does it make?

Welcome to the addiction!

First, the live center.
If you plan to do much spindle turning or use it for initial support when roughing a bowl, then yes, they make a huge difference. How long they last depends upon how much you use and abuse one. Plan to get years out of a good one and most good ones have replaceable points.

I have the SS live center, a PSI 60 degree, a mandrel saver (for pens), and the Nova 10 piece live center system.

The Nova system is the tinker toy, erector set of live systems. If you need it, that system can help you design it. At $70 it is NOT inexpensive

If you are not going to purchase a live center any time soon, might I suggest skipping the grease and switching to beeswax.

Just for additional thought, I got really tired of using the face plates for bowls and just ordered the G3 chuck.

The grease was a "hmm, what have I got laying around here that will work," solution. Starting with a VERY dry and not at all dense 4X4 piece of pine I ended up turning a peg leg. My 4 year old nephew was very impressed when I told him I stole it from a pirate. I expect to get some use of it while passing out candy this Halloween.
I cut off the end where the grease made a nasty stain though.
Nova Adapter chart Is this adapter necessary for the Nova chuck or the live center? I doubt I will buy the chuck yet. I aill be working on some spindles for a while and then look at bowls, likely a little closer to Christmas. I wonder what everyone will think of receiving a bowl for Christmas...

johnwilliamson062 wrote:The grease was a "hmm, what have I got laying around here that will work," solution. Starting with a VERY dry and not at all dense 4X4 piece of pine I ended up turning a peg leg. My 4 year old nephew was very impressed when I told him I stole it from a pirate. I expect to get some use of it while passing out candy this Halloween.
I cut off the end where the grease made a nasty stain though.
Nova Adapter chart Is this adapter necessary for the Nova chuck or the live center? I doubt I will buy the chuck yet. I aill be working on some spindles for a while and then look at bowls, likely a little closer to Christmas. I wonder what everyone will think of receiving a bowl for Christmas...

If yer planning on doing bowls for Christmas, I suggest getting started sooner rather than later, especially if using "Green" wood, they do take a while to dry. Or use dry wood (harder to turn, but no wait time one you're done)

johnwilliamson062 wrote: . . . I wonder what everyone will think of receiving a bowl for Christmas...

Do not put gruel into them.

johnwilliamson062 wrote:The grease was a "hmm, what have I got laying around here that will work," solution. Starting with a VERY dry and not at all dense 4X4 piece of pine I ended up turning a peg leg. My 4 year old nephew was very impressed when I told him I stole it from a pirate. I expect to get some use of it while passing out candy this Halloween.
I cut off the end where the grease made a nasty stain though.
Nova Adapter chart Is this adapter necessary for the Nova chuck or the live center? I doubt I will buy the chuck yet. I aill be working on some spindles for a while and then look at bowls, likely a little closer to Christmas. I wonder what everyone will think of receiving a bowl for Christmas...

Yes, adapter "S" is the correct adapter to use any Nova chuck on a Shopsmith. A friend has two of the Nova chucks and has nothing but praise for them.

Scoring points with your nephew is a good thing . Maybe making him a wooden sword to go with it might be fun. It's fun being the cool uncle!

In the past I have used mineral oil instead of beeswax. Generally if the wood is going to have any food on it, I'll coat it with mineral oil a couple times a year anyway so I have some handy and it really quiets that annoying screeching:o

Bowls, especially ones that family know were hand made are a big hit. Heed the warning about starting early and beware of the crack monster hiding in each bowl

Repeat the mantra "sharp chisels are my friend". I have moved from gouges to carbide for most rough work (I think mainly because I am lazy), but nothing beats a sharp skew chisel for that nice finish.

After bowls for presents, if you are entirely hooked on turning (it can become very addicting), the next BIG hit is pens. I turned one for a BIL and then every adult wanted one.

Have fun!

Well, actually that brings up another question. Turning small diameter and short blanks. It seems to me as if turning a pen blank in my SS would result in it twisting into splinters or flying across the room. Isn't that what they make "mini-lathes" for? I am not sure why I think this. A shorter blank should twist less than a long one and the compression holding it between centers won't shift. My local Woodcraft salesman assured me it would work fine.

Next project is an ice cream scoop for fathers day. I have a blank of Cherry and one of rosewood. Enough to make at least four attempts at the handle. I should get something to work out. All I have to worry about is if I have a reaction to rosewood. I have never worked with it. I have made a few things out of Cherry without problems.

Do anyone have a way to replace the bearing in the live center? I have one that the bearing is really rough. I did not see any way or believe I have any tools to help remove this bearing. Not many things gives me this kind of problem. I had thought of drilling a hole(s) on the back side to punch out the bearing.

billmayo wrote:Do anyone have a way to replace the bearing in the live center? I have one that the bearing is really rough. I did not see any way or believe I have any tools to help remove this bearing. Not many things gives me this kind of problem. I had thought of drilling a hole(s) on the back side to punch out the bearing.

If you have the shopsmith version that looks like this:

http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/showpos ... stcount=11

you can see that it comes apart, and yes the bearing is replaceable.

I don't recall any issue getting it apart.

Ed

reible wrote:If you have the shopsmith version that looks like this:

https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?p=112452&postcount=11

you can see that it comes apart, and yes the bearing is replaceable.

I don't recall any issue getting it apart.

Ed

When the center comes out first, the bearing becomes very difficult to remove since the threaded hole is slightly smaller than the bearing center. There is nothing to grab or push against. Try extricating one that has been in place a half century!;)