Drive centres

Re: Drive centres

Arch

>Hi Claudia, before the experts answer, I have a question. What happened to the center that you were using? Apparently it was satisfactory. Did you misuse it or lose it? ;) Centers almost never wear out. Why not just replace it? Standard

(read regrugitated, G) wisdom says large centers (1" or more) or pointed bolts on a small faceplate for driving large irregular faces. Two prong centers for better grain and defect positioning.

Turn to Safety, Arch

Re: Drive centres

John Lucas

>Look at the big drive centers from www.bestwoodtools.com I've been drooling over them and will probably buy one this summer. I demonstrated with one this fall and loved it. John

Re: Drive centres

MP Wall

>Ditto on the bestwoodtools drive centers. My stock drive jammed in my pm3520 and I replaced it with a 4 spur drive from best wood tools, sharp as all get out. If you are mainly into bowls the 2 spur will likely work just fine.

MP Wall

Re: Drive centres

Brad Bittle

>I have the 2 pronged Texas spur from bestwoods...works great.

Brad in Knoxville

Re: Drive centres

Fog Tanner

>I have the large two prong drive, from Bestwoods, that fits in the chuck jaws. You can rough the piece, put a foot on it and then remove the drive and put the piece in the chuck. This works as long the piece will fit in the #2 jaws. I like mine for the speed.

Re: Drive centres

Claudia Hayward

>Hi Arch

Yes I got a centre when I got the lathe but the lathe was used. The spurs were worn down and consequently very dull, too much so to sharpen easily. Tried substituting my centre from my Jet mini but just wasn't large enough to do the job. Figure I should use this as an excuse to buy something good quality!!

Re: Texas Drive, old review

Lyn J. Mangiameli

>This is the text (with a couple of updates) of a review I did for More Woodturning on the BWT's Texas Drives. It was before Fred set up the website for my articles, so you can't get a pdf (at least right now) of it there. They are great drives and are my prefered drive centers for big work (the Steb centers are my preference for small work).

BestWoodTools Texas Spur Drive Center

It is not very often that a product comes along that in design, function and execution is just superb, but I think that the current generation of BestWoodTools Texas Spur Drive Centers are just that. If you have not seen one of these, they are one big heavy duty drive center that rather than using a Morse taper mount, instead screws directly onto your spindle just like a chuck or faceplate. Once seated it can not turn, so there is never any slipping in the taper that is sometimes a problem with traditional spur centers driving heavy blanks. There is a lot of steel here, with the body being two inches in diameter and the spurs having a total span of 1.5 inches. The walls are thick with good threading. Everything is well machined, the spurs are sharp, sturdy and well supported; the point is sharp, thick at its base and is removable, replaceable and adjustable for extension.

The body is drilled with a side hole to take a spanner wrench. They sell a two inch spanner of powder coated steel and it works well for removing the drive from the spindle. The spanner will fit their spindle adapters and extensions as well, and is also the perfect tool for removing the Glaser screw chucks. Newer versions of the Texas Drive have machined flats to take an open end wrench. I have always found the spanner to be sufficient, but it is nice to have the option of using a wrench.

Another available accessory is an aluminum seating handle. This handle screws into the end of the drive, just as if it were the spindle, but is long enough to allow you to get a safe handhold if you feel the need to use a hammer to seat the drive. Being aluminum, one probably would be best to use a wooden mallet or dead blow hammer, rather than a steel maul that would eventually mushroom the end. That said, I have never felt the need to hammer this drive to seat it, the sharp spurs usually seat just fine with tailstock pressure. If really hard dry wood is involved, my favorite trick is to use a biscuit joiner to cut a slot for the spurs.

The drive centers will eventually be available in three versions, with a choice of six, four or two spurs. I�ve had their original six spur version for a couple of years now and can say it is virtually indestructible. This is the only drive center I use for big wood, and I start nearly all of my larger pieces between centers. Even though I have used this drive a lot, it looks and works as well as the day I first obtained it. It offers great holding power without fear of splitting your wood, or spur failure (yes, I have managed to mangle spurs on lesser drives).

However, sometimes one wants a fair amount of penetration into softer woods, or wishes to be able to manipulate the orientation of the wood along one axis. Two-spur drives are ideal for this. Thus I was really pleased when BWTs sent out the first of their two spur models just before Christmas (this was in 2003). I have used this drive every chance I could over the last month and can say I just love this new version. Much as I already liked their original Texas Drive, I like the new version even better. Machining is just impeccable, and they now add a thick black chrome finish that protects against staining and corrosion (great for you LDD and dripping green wood turners).

I understand that soon they will offer a four spur version, perhaps by the time this review makes it into print (they have). I am afraid I will be tempted to get one of those as well, though I think that for most turners, the two spur version will suffice for almost all needs.

Now if only they would make a �Texas� tail center. That would be one great way to mount those heavy logs at the distal end.

The Texas Spur Drive Centers are available for 1x8; 1.25x8 and 33x3.5mm spindles. They can be found at the BestWoodTools website:

http://www.store.yahoo.com/bestwoodtools/index.html

Re: Texas Drive, old review

Claudia Hayward

>Thanks for the input Lyn. Looks like I'm gonna have to get me one of those (said in my best Texas drawl!)