Spindle Morse Adapter...or no?

The center in the headstock does not need to be hard (per comments above) - once recut, it will be bang on as good as the lathe can produce (better than a 5MT or 3 MT + adapter). If that "guy" were to recut his soft center and match mark it to the spindle, it would be quite accurate (since even marked it does not go back exactly the same each time). I can't imagine that for 99% of practical machining work it wouldn't be good enough (I'd wager that there would be other sources of error which would be more significant).
 
I don't think any lathe new comes with a full size head stock center. They always send the reducer and two dead centers. By the way the correct term for the center in the head stock is live center. Just saying

You're probably right for most lathes. My Emco Super 11 came with a 5MT center for the spindle and a 2MT for the tailstock, no adapters. Leave it to the Austrians to be the exception.

I've always assumed a live center was a rotating center in the tailstock and solid centers were dead centers. I don't think it matters a whole lot as long as we know what we're referring to but its interesting.
 
Yes, the nomenclature for centers has become hopelessly confused. I use the terms hard, soft, or ball bearing along with spindle or tail stock to describe lathe centers. At least people can visualize that and are then free to call them whatever they wish. I do not use the terms live and dead, not even in my own mind...
 
Yes, the nomenclature for centers has become hopelessly confused. I use the terms hard, soft, or ball bearing along with spindle or tail stock to describe lathe centers. At least people can visualize that and are then free to call them whatever they wish. I do not use the terms live and dead, not even in my own mind...


How about some biological nomenclature? Maybe Necroticus centricus ...................:)
 
I don't think any lathe new comes with a full size head stock center. They always send the reducer and two dead centers. By the way the correct term for the center in the head stock is live center. Just saying
You are correct in your statement that all lathes came with a sleeve; this allows BOTH centers to be trued up in the spindle, although a tool post grinder would be necessary for the tail center to be trued as it is always hard. The head center generally came with a recess turned near the big end to indicate that it is soft; both ends were the same size taper.
Incidentally, years ago, I had a good sized lathe that was probably from the 1850s that had square tapered centers, about the same taper as a #3 Morse --- go figure?
 
From my High school days, I remember them as a soft center that is for the headstock, a hardened or carbide tip center for the tail stock, and a ball bearing was called a live center. I can still visualize the quiz that covered the various dead centers, and different live centers. We made the soft centers from stock.

The various books from around 1900, also have many differences in descriptions, so the confusion is nothing new. Here is the funniest I found, from a 1910 book, IIRC. A headstock center is normally live,and the tailstock dead. But a live center in the tailstock can withstand heavy pressure. Its like the paragraph was written by three different authors. :eek:

livedead.PNG

livedead2.PNG
 
Yes, the nomenclature for centers has become hopelessly confused. I use the terms hard, soft, or ball bearing along with spindle or tail stock to describe lathe centers. At least people can visualize that and are then free to call them whatever they wish. I do not use the terms live and dead, not even in my own mind...

Hmm, so a center in the headstock is actually called a live center because it revolves like its alive, but if you stick the same center in the tailstock then it dies and then becomes a dead center because it doesn't revolve. BUT it doesn't really revolve in the headstock either so it was never alive to begin with; it just spins with the spindle so its actually a dead center that is being deceptive about being alive. Tricky devils, these centers. I'm going to call all of them dead and call my spindle a live spindle; that will show them.

Good thing we don't consider a live center sentient or we'd have to talk to the damned thing! With my luck, my live center would be female and I'd have to listen to it (no offense, ladies, just some husband humor). :D
 
I will toss in my 2 pennies on the subject of live centers.
I use a stub of soft steel in the 3jaw as a live center. I cut it fresh each time I use it, even if I had a tool post grinder, I doubt I would grind it.
This works well for me since I use the 4jaw almost exclusively when I put work in a chuck. My chucks are well fitted to my spindle (D1-4 nose), so swapping them back and forth does not seem to cause any issues, though I will often recut the center just because it is "best practice."
I have had some parts go on and off the lathe upwards a dozen times as they either get pushed aside for another project, fitting up, or for milling operations, and they always go back on as concentric as I can measure with my DTI.
Like mentioned above, I like to do my roughing work with the material in the chuck, and try to limit my DOC between centers to under 0.070"

As for the other stuff. A sleeved #3 is just as accurate as a #5 center assuming it has been clocked. A #5 rolling center is an order of magnitude stronger than a #3 center, but is also substantially fatter and that much harder to get a tool around, and you can give up all that stiffness using an extended center. On the other hand repeatedly swapping the sleeve around tooling does cause wear and tear on the sleeve.

I also fall in the "old school" camp that defines a dead center as the thing that goes in the tail stock, a live center is the smooth pointy that in a headstock, and a drive center as a pointed thing with spurs that goes in the headstock (seen mostly on wood lathes). If it goes in the tail stock and rotates passively with the work, it is a rolling dead center. I don't get hung up about it though, and often refer the rolling dead center as a live center, so long as folks know what I am talking about there is no problem :)
 
Hmm, so a center in the headstock is actually called a live center because it revolves like its alive, but if you stick the same center in the tailstock then it dies and then becomes a dead center because it doesn't revolve. BUT it doesn't really revolve in the headstock either so it was never alive to begin with; it just spins with the spindle so its actually a dead center that is being deceptive about being alive. Tricky devils, these centers. I'm going to call all of them dead and call my spindle a live spindle; that will show them.

Good thing we don't consider a live center sentient or we'd have to talk to the damned thing! With my luck, my live center would be female and I'd have to listen to it (no offense, ladies, just some husband humor). :D
It does not appear that you are responding to my post, Mikey. What I would say is that I have a soft center in the spindle, or a hardened center in the tailstock, or a ball bearing center in the tailstock, but would not use the terms live and dead at all because their usage has become hopelessly confused. What am I missing?
 
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