Live center accuracy, what's acceptable

Dranreb

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I'm looking to get a live center, seen a cheap one I might buy, is the quoted 0.0008" accuracy OK?

Can I expect some wear to occur when it's 'run in'

Do I even need to worry about any of this?

Any thoughts on this appreciated

Bernard
 
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Bernard, what kind of lathe are you using? The reason I ask is that on many hobby lathes and old iron the ram in the tailstock has a significant amount of run out all by itself. Then, when you put pressure on the work piece with the ram who knows how much run out is present.

0.0008" is a not bad in a cheap live center. In a good one, like a Royal, it is unacceptable. It really depends on what you need. If you are going to hold most work in a 3-jaw chuck then I wouldn't worry about it. If you need to do precision turning on a longer piece then you are going to have issues, not just related to the live center.

You could always make your own ...
 
Like the previous poster mentioned, the tailstock RAM may have (usually has) issues. They often have slop if they're worn and they shift from pressure while cutting. In general 0.00008 cannot be measured in a home shop -so I personally wouldn't worry about it. I use live centers most of the time. They weren't expensive (under 60 bucks) and they're well used in my shop. -Never noticed a problem. You'll notice that most have a screw at the back end of the morse taper. Remove the screw and throw some gear oil in there once in a blue moon. I think it will be just fine for virtually all normal situations. FWIW, the only time I use a dead center is on the rare occasion I need the extra 2" of bed length or, when I need to work at the end of a shaft and the collar of the live center is taking-up too much space and interfering with the bit and tool holder positioning.

These are my general observations and others may indeed have other considerations and preferences...

Ray
 
The answer is...........It Depends! It depends on what you intend to do with it. Do you need to use existing center holes on workpieces that need additional operations performed on them that must run closer than that to the previously machined features? The no, it won't be acceptable. But if you don't intend to remove the piece after machining and then put it back in the machine that close, then it will be fine. There are better centers, yes, but unless you need the accuracy, spend your money on something else.

Please take this the right way. If you're not sure that you need it, then it's likely that you don't. Most hobbyists don't work to tolerances stated on manufacturing drawings, especially just starting out in the hobby. If you had a print that you were machining to that indicated a close TIR requirement, that would dictate your needs and there would be no question.

And on the wearing in question. Bearings generally only get looser, so I''d really expect that center to be better than the spec at first, but probably run a little warmer than normal at high speed, then as things settled in, the 0.0008 would probably represent the best average of their product representation over it's lifespan. In short, at first it would be tight and closer, then loosen up, but not all at once to 0.0008, but eventually get there. The makers would probably consider that it's life expectancy. Of course, if it serves your purposes, nothing says you can't keep using it as long as it satisfies your needs.

If it's your first live center, and the price is right, you should be fine until you can measure and object to that small amount of runout. Depending on how deep you want to get into this hobby, that might be a month, a year....or you may see that it's fine for everything you want to do.
 
That will be fine for 90% of the work in any shop at all. At least. Most everything in a hobby shop. The other factor I forgot to mention is the weight. I see that one marked as "medium" duty. That generally limits the weight you can hang off it, but not many of us want to mess with stuff heavier that we can lift, and that doesn't exceed a medium duty limit.
 
Indeed! And a "heavy duty" live center is quite massive and takes-up a good bit of precious working space. Things sometimes get tight with a QCTP, holder, live center and possible follow-rest etc...

-Don't believe I've ever seen one marked as "light duty" but if I did, I'd consider getting it.

Ray


That will be fine for 90% of the work in any shop at all. At least. Most everything in a hobby shop. The other factor I forgot to mention is the weight. I see that one marked as "medium" duty. That generally limits the weight you can hang off it, but not many of us want to mess with stuff heavier that we can lift, and that doesn't exceed a medium duty limit.
 
Wait a minute... what am I thinking? When I get in a space pinch, I just use a dead center.
 
I would not buy anything with more the at most .0002" run out. Buy one that is good and it will last a lifetime. You buy a cheap one and it affects your accuracy and will probably break in a year. Check with Polar Tool in MPLS as they sell good quality new and used tooling for a reasonable price.
 
I agree with Richard. Buy the best you can, even if you have to splurge a little and not eat for a day or two. ;) We can't always get what we want but I've found buying cheap usually costs me later. :(
 
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