Shopsmith Forums

Does anybody know of a better drive center for the shopsmith. The one that came with the machine has it's spurs bent a little and does not bite very well.

thanks!

Hi,

For spindle turning, I prefer the Oneway Safe Driver:

http://www.oneway.ca/spindle/safe_drivers.htm

While it's the only other drive center (besides Shopsmith offerings) I'm aware of made for Shopsmith, there are many drive centers that will mount in a scroll chuck.

mnice wrote:Does anybody know of a better drive center for the shopsmith. The one that came with the machine has it's spurs bent a little and does not bite very well.

thanks!

I just got the Robert Sorby and it is great, it is spring loaded and fits into a chuck.

mnice wrote:Does anybody know of a better drive center for the shopsmith. The one that came with the machine has it's spurs bent a little and does not bite very well.

thanks!

Never having a problem with the Shopsmith drive center, I must ask - Prior to setting the drive center, do you drill a 1/8" diameter hole (about 1/4" deep) and saw cross kerfs across that hole so they are at right angles to each other?

The drive center spurs fit into the kerfs (about 3/32" or more) and do not slip. The Shopsmith directions call for using a hand saw to make those kerfs - sawing from corner to corner on the edge of squared stock. I choose to use the drill press. That way if the work piece is not square, the kerfs are always at right angles when sawn through the center hole from flat sides.

FWIW: Driving the spur into the end grain increases the potential of splitting the workpiece. i.e. NOT recommended!

My lightly used drive Spur has chipped corners and I have been looking for a replacement. Chipped corners may have occurred when the spur drive slipped, removed the original placement, and routed out a 5/8 " flat bottomed counter sink. Plenty of power when using SS as a lathe.

The contract bowl turning demostrator at the Rockler store demo used a 2" faceplate with hex head screws nylocked through the faceplate. The screw points protuded through the nylock nuts ~ 1/4 ".

I made 1 1/2" thick 2" , 3" , 6" faceplates for the 5/8" SS spindle after I found several people that were threading wood faceplates with various thread combinations, including 1 " x 8 tpi. The threshold costs for that approach was the high cost for the tap to cut the threads. That would have required a 1 x 8 adapter for the SS. I installed a setscrew to intercept the reverse taper on the SS spindle, avoiding the costs for the tap and adapter.

The original pair of 3" wood faceplates were used to turn the outside profile of three bowls and a lid. Four 3 " drywall screws through holes in the wooden faceplate held the turning blanks for roughing, turning, and sanding. A donut chuck was used for turning the bowl inside.

The 6" faceplates were trued, a 6" PSA sanding disc attached to the face, and leather to the edge for a power hone.

I was interested in another spur drive, but made the wood 2" faceplates to see if they could be the replacement.

charlese wrote:Never having a problem with the Shopsmith drive center, I must ask - Prior to setting the drive center, do you drill a 1/8" diameter hole (about 1/4" deep) and saw cross kerfs across that hole so they are at right angles to each other? .

Yep, and yep. I messed up mine, and yes it was my fault:eek: I do like the idea of the chuck mounted one, as I do a fair amount of bowls, so having the chuck mounted all the time would be a nice benefit.

Thanks for all your ideas!!

A Steb center is really something special, you can do things with it that I have seen done other ways and they are very safe.

There is a great video showing some of the special things that can be done like Turning Multi-Sided Bowls or Turning Eccentric Spindles.

paulmcohen wrote:A Steb center is really something special, you can do things with it that I have seen done other ways and they are very safe.

There is a great video showing some of the special things that can be done like Turning Multi-Sided Bowls or Turning Eccentric Spindles.

Thanks Paul those were all interesting videos. Assuming the spending freeze is lifted after our move I now have an item on my wish list. Jim