Shopsmith Forums

I have been turning some cherry legs for a shaker table and had the third leg break at the tailstock. I think this is my first turning using hardwood. The piece started vibrating when I turned up the speed to start smoothing it after shaping was complete. My first reaction was to slow down the speed to eliminate the vibration. It turns out that the speed control handle had begun to slip and would not allow me to change speeds and the stock broke before I could just turn the shopsmith off. I've since corrected the speed control but want to verify the proper tailstock center mounting before I try to make a new leg. I'm using the live center, but also have the standard dead center. Should the ring around the center point be embedded into the work piece to provide better security? I can see from my broken piece that the center hole in the work had become egged out and the ring was not into the wood.

dabrst,

Welcome to the Shopsmith Forum. In your post you ended with the following two sentences

Should the ring around the center point be embedded into the work piece to provide better security? I can see from my broken piece that the center hole in the work had become egged out and the ring was not into the wood.

Your second sentence pretty much answers your question. Having the ring embedded with the point into the wood adds extra holding power for the tailstock centers. My guess is that as you were shaping the leg the pressure from the chisel against the wood was creating the egg shaped hole the tailstock center was in.

Gee I wonder what that ring is for? Of course pin only will fail. Especially in end grain! A shallow ring groove is usually sufficient.

In hardwood, you may need to drill a small pilot hole for the conical point, in order to engage the ring without undue force.

If you do not do what BuckeyDennis said you will probably split most hardwoods. I drill the hole slightly smaller than the maximum diameter of the conical point and then make sure that the ring is embedded into the stock. The ring does not have to be embedded very far just enough to hold the piece securely.
Bill V