# Riten - vs - Royal Centers



## Bamban (Apr 3, 2020)

Is the price difference between the two brands a better value in the long run to go with the Royal?


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## Nutfarmer (Apr 3, 2020)

Royal is known for good quality


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## mikey (Apr 3, 2020)

I've only used Royals so cannot compare. The better centers from Ritten have the same run out as Royals (+/- 0.00005") and they both have the same 1 year warranty. They both will service and repair any of their centers. Rittens have a very good reputation so if I were to run across one for a really good price, I might try it. 

On the other hand, Royals are said to be the best there is. My limited hobby shop experience would seem to support that.


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## Bamban (Apr 3, 2020)

MSC has some good prices on Riten centers,  I may try one


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## Liljoebrshooter (Apr 4, 2020)

Has anyone ever sent a center back to Royal to get repaired?  I have one I bought used on  e bay.  It was quite old but brand new in the box.   It seems to have about 004" runout.  

Joe Hynes


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## machPete99 (Apr 4, 2020)

I have a Ritten on my Clausing 5914, and it seems to work good. But, I have not experienced the Royal.
Only issue (not brand specific) is I wish I has saved up for one of the "CNC Style" centers which have more accessibility.


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## Bamban (Apr 4, 2020)

Tozguy alerted me to these spring loaded ones now being offered through Riten.

Spring-loaded, “Concentric” Live Centers | Riten.com


			Spring-loaded, “Concentric” Live Centers | Riten.com
		


I thought these would be a great when turning barrels.


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## mksj (Apr 4, 2020)

I would doubt one would be able to tell the difference between most live centers at the level of work that is done as a hobbyist. Most of these have a tolerance probably comparable or better than your lathe spindle bearing. I find it comes down more to the style and nose geometry that suits your type of work. I have about a 1/2 dozen from different manufactures, the higher end like my Swiss SFJ the bearings are like butter and it has a pressure indicator (spring loaded), but they all get the job done. Day to day, I primarily use the standard point SFJ (now sold by Ritten as the GPRTOPS) and an extended CNC point from Shar's. You do notice a quality issue with the Shar's as the bearing felt gritty and it took a while to wear in. I also have a Skoda with interchangeable tips that I like. I can't see spending big $$ on a Royal, or a new Ritten at list price to be worth the spend factor.
These might be worth looking at:








						Riten RP-12103 Live Center #3 Morse Taper  | eBay
					

New Riten Live Center.



					www.ebay.com
				











						#3 Morse Taper Heavy Duty Live Center Max Weight 900lb 60°point SKODA BRAND for sale online | eBay
					

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for #3 Morse Taper Heavy Duty Live Center Max Weight 900lb 60°point SKODA BRAND at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!



					www.ebay.com


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## Tozguy (Apr 4, 2020)

Mark made a good point. In my case to buy a live centre compatible with the overall quality level of my lathe and tools I would not have to pay much. However I would spring for a three bearing design with a spindle that extends all the way to the small end of the MT3 taper.


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## Bamban (Apr 4, 2020)

On the PM1440TV I turned a short barrel on centers, dead one on the TS, cylinder was spot on end to end. Replaced the dead without moving the TS position with a live. 
A couple of heavy cuts and a finishing cut, not as bueno. Still good enough, but would rather have it just the same as the dead. 

I did learn sometime ago to cut to specific dimension I let the material get back to room temp before making the finish cut or two.


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## ACHiPo (Apr 4, 2020)

mksj said:


> I would doubt one would be able to tell the difference between most live centers at the level of work that is done as a hobbyist. Most of these have a tolerance probably comparable or better than your lathe spindle bearing.


Holy cow I just Googled these.  They damn near cost as much as my lathe did!  I'd hope they would be better tolerance than the spindle bearing.


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## mksj (Apr 4, 2020)

Fortunately I picked mine up about 7 years ago for about $200 new, it is very nice but I use my Shar's CNC extended point much more frequently. I wish I had purchased a better extended point, I would rather by quality once. Nez, I assume you are using the stock live center that came with the lathe? The stock ones are inexpensive and pretty light weight. I think you can get a very good live center in the 100-200 range is you keep a lookout on eBay. The Riten posted should be quite good and you can always offer less.

Swiss SFJ live center, I like that you have an indicator for the tension and that the spring tension will take up any small changes in movement.


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## ddickey (Apr 5, 2020)

I have two Ritens and a Skoda as well as one I made myself. The two Ritens I got were NOS and the bearings were really tight. I believe the grease had dried up not sure. Anyway I sent one back to Riten and got new bearings and made it a long point or CNC point. The other one sits on my shelf. I suppose some day I may send it in and make it a tracer point or maybe a bull nose. The Skoda has been great.


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## Bamban (Apr 5, 2020)

mksj said:


> Fortunately I picked mine up about 7 years ago for about $200 new, it is very nice but I use my Shar's CNC extended point much more frequently. I wish I had purchased a better extended point, I would rather by quality once. Nez, I assume you are using the stock live center that came with the lathe? The stock ones are inexpensive and pretty light weight. I think you can get a very good live center in the 100-200 range is you keep a lookout on eBay. The Riten posted should be quite good and you can always offer less.
> 
> Swiss SFJ live center, I like that you have an indicator for the tension and that the spring tension will take up any small changes in movement.
> View attachment 319588



Thanks, Mark. Will be on the look out for better ones on eBay. Made an offer on the Skoda, let's see what happens

That Swiss live center looks just like any Swiss made product - nothing but the best.


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## projectnut (Apr 5, 2020)

I can't speak for the Ritten's because I've never had one.  I can say the Royals are good quality.  I've had a couple over 30 years and they still perform well.  I didn't buy them because I thought they were top line, but rather because we had them at work.. I think some at work were older than me and were still in good shape.  At the time I was more interested in buying tooling one time rather than having to replace it every few years.  The Royal's haven't disappointed me.

I also have a couple Skoda's. They too perform well.   Now days they seem to be about half the price of the Royals.  I don't recall that much difference in price when I was buying them.  Then again I don't think I paid half what they're asking for either of them today.


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## Bamban (Apr 5, 2020)

Here is another question. What is the drawback in running a MT2 live center in a MT3 TS using a sleeve adapter? 

There is a Swiss SFJ live center on eBay, but with MT2 shank. It is perfect for my the JET 1024, just curious about its use with a sleeve.


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## ddickey (Apr 5, 2020)

Possibly adding run out and a little less rigid.


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## mikey (Apr 5, 2020)

There is an MT3 SFJ live center on ebay so direct fit. Auction ends in 3 hours or so.

There is a Royal Interchangeable tip live center, MT3, for the ridiculous price of $60.00. It comes with a tip to machine your own extended tip; just the tip costs more than the offered center. If you buy this and machine the tip roughly to what you want, Royal will grind the tip to meet their specs for free.


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## Bamban (Apr 5, 2020)

mikey said:


> There is an MT3 SFJ live center on ebay so direct fit. Auction ends in 3 hours or so.
> 
> There is a Royal Interchangeable tip live center, MT3, for the ridiculous price of $60.00. It comes with a tip to machine your own extended tip; just the tip costs more than the offered center. If you buy this and machine the tip roughly to what you want, Royal will grind the tip to meet their specs for free.



Bought the Royal and will do as you suggested.

Thanks, Mikey.


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## mikey (Apr 5, 2020)

I think you made a good buy, Nez. It looked to be in good shape in pics but you never know with ebay. That is an older style changeable tip live center. Similar to the newer ones but if the bearing needs to be changed, Royal should do it. They can completely refurbish it if needed; hopefully, yours will be good. 

Royal knows that in order for a changeable tip to run concentric with the live center axis, that tip MUST be ground in the live center in which it is used. That's why you have to send the tip and center to them. If you bought a set of tips on ebay or made tips you need, contact them and they'll arrange for you to send your kit in and they'll bring it to specs. For a Royal, that means 0.00005" TIR under load.


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## projectnut (Apr 5, 2020)

Bamban said:


> Here is another question. What is the drawback in running a MT2 live center in a MT3 TS using a sleeve adapter?
> 
> There is a Swiss SFJ live center on eBay, but with MT2 shank. It is perfect for my the JET 1024, just curious about its use with a sleeve.



I have done it a number of times and found only 1 minor drawback.  My older lathe has an MT2 tailstock and my newer one has an MT3 tailstock.  To see if I could interchange the centers I bought an MT2 to MT3 adaptor and an MT3 to MT2 adaptor.  Both work well without any runout problems. 

The MT2 in the adaptor sleeve extends the center about an inch beyond the normal length of the MT3 center in the MT3 tailstock.  However the MT3 center in the MT2 adaptor extends the length of that setup about 4 inches beyond the normal MT2 center in the MT2 tailstock. 

 In my case the machine with the MT3 tailstock has a bed length of 56" and the one with the MT2 tailstock has a bed length of 60".  So far I haven't had to run anything between centers that wouldn't fit on either machine with either setup combination.   However if you have a machine with a shorter bed the larger center and adaptor in the small tailstock may create interference problems.


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## Bamban (Apr 9, 2020)

Well, besides the used interchangeable tip Royal on eBay that I got for 60, I secured a good deal on a brand new Riten. It arrived today. What a beauty. We will be turning a lot of barrels.


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## Tozguy (Jun 5, 2020)

mikey said:


> I think you made a good buy, Nez. It looked to be in good shape in pics but you never know with ebay. That is an older style changeable tip live center. Similar to the newer ones but if the bearing needs to be changed, Royal should do it. They can completely refurbish it if needed; hopefully, yours will be good.
> 
> Royal knows that in order for a changeable tip to run concentric with the live center axis, that tip MUST be ground in the live center in which it is used. That's why you have to send the tip and center to them. If you bought a set of tips on ebay or made tips you need, contact them and they'll arrange for you to send your kit in and they'll bring it to specs. For a Royal, that means 0.00005" TIR under load.



Just wondering how the Ritten is working out for you Bamban and whether it needed any work.


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