1/2 Lathe Center??

[mmcmdl]

Bemmy nailed it . It's used on cylindrical grinders to allow clearing of the wheel . Center lube is needed . As heat builds up in the shaft it expands and heats the dead centers , thus the lube . All of the grinders I've ever run had spring loaded tailstocks which allowed for expansion and contraction of the large shafts .

 

[MontanaLon]

I've often wondered how you guys in your basement shops dealt with smoke??
High temp grease, check.

Tap magic works also but it is more expensive. I mean I paid $4 for a tub of grease and between center lube and cutting lube it will last me years. I get better results with tap magic but using it for roughing seems wasteful and then it doesn't play well with the grease for final cuts. And amazingly I find cutting oil never smokes when I am tapping so it usually gets used along with WD-40 for aluminum when I am tapping. It is almost like I wasted the money on the tap magic.

 

[Flyinfool]

In addition to giving me extra tool clearance on the lathe, I often use my half center in the tail stock with my rotary table on the mill, It will allow the cutter room to run off the end of the part.

 

[ericc]

If you have a slow old South Bend or other vintage lathe, almost anything will work. I use old refiltered ATF, hydraulic fluid, STP, just about anything. Just don't get carried away with your job and forget.

 

[pontiac428]

When working between centers, the application of a half-center becomes obvious. With a half-center you can bring the cutting tool right up to the tail side face of the work without changing the setup. I learned a lot of technique from the old books, and I am not sure why turning between centers isn't in vogue anymore. It couldn't possibly be from modern thin castings or the precision superiority of affordable Asian scroll chucks.

 

[pstemari]

Turning between centers requires lots of manual setup, and it isn't really suitable for production work.

As far as dead center lube goes McMaster has a high pressure lead-based lubricant. It's labeled anti-seize but it works quite the treat for dead centers and is marketed as such.

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