Large lathe centre

[BaldricParticipant @baldric]

I am after a centre or sleeve to MT for an Elliott Omnispeed, this takes a Brown & Sharpe No.14. Does anyone know where I could get one?
If all else fails I will make a centre, would EN3 be OK as it will be skimmed each time it is used?

Baldric

[BaldricParticipant @baldric]

[Thor 🇳🇴Participant @thor]

Hi Baldric,

if you have a chuck or 4-jaw turning a soft centre is no problem, mild steel (like EN 3) should do the job when skimmed before use.

Thor

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

My lathe has a 5 MT spindle nose, and a 5 MT to 3 MT sleeve, but I often use a bit of mild steel in the three jaw chuck, turned to a 30* taper, it can be used over and over, just put it in the chuck and skim it true each time. A bit of steel say 20/30 mm dia x 50 mm long will last for ages. Ian S C

[BaldricParticipant @baldric]

Thanks for the replies, I think I will end up making one to fit the headstock, the reason I will do this rather than just chuck a piece is so that I can use either a faceplate or catch plate with a pin to drive the item to be turned rather than a cranked dog.

Baldric

[John McNamaraParticipant @johnmcnamara74883]

Hi Baldrick

A while back I posted this. **LINK** It shows how to make 2 plugs for a lathe in one setup.
I Later bored one MT3 and the other int40 taper to take the holders I use on my mill.

The method was easy and accurate. Just keep turning the piece end for end, then after resetting the top slide take a small skim; each time it will slide further into the spindle as the fit improves. Check the fit with bluing in the spindle bore. when it is perfect don't forget to do the other end! Once done cut it in half, face, and you are ready to bore.

Cheers
John

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