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Any one use the Oneway Live Center Adapter?

Will Armstrong

Will Armstrong

Joined
Apr 29, 2020
Messages
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Location
Toronto, ON
I am wondering if anyone uses this adapter to improve chuck centering onto a tenon? Trying to figure out if it is worth the bother. Description of the adapter:
  1. Turn the outside of the bowl, including the foot or tenon for chucking.
  2. Using the Live Center adapter, attach a chuck or faceplate to the Live Center.
  3. Move the tailstock (with the Live Center/chuck assembly attached) up to the bowl and grab the foot or tenon on the bowl while it is still attached to the lathe.
  4. You can now screw the chuck onto the headstock, and your bowl will be precisely centered and ready to be hollowed out or cored.

  6. live center adatper.jpg
 
I don’t understand the advantage in the instance you’ve provided.
The tenon, by virtue of being turned will be exactly on center. Provided the tenon is properly made, the bowl has to be on center. Hard to be otherwise.

Those devices are handy for mounting the piece on the vacuum chuck. In general, that works as well as using the original center for locating the piece against the vac chuck. When I’ve forgotten to leave my center, some form of this is handy. I have one of the non-rotating chuck to tailstock adapters for such cases.
 
I don't think it is worth the effort, Will.
Just started this reply when Marc's post appeared. I agree with his response. May even be less accurate. I only use that method for vacuum chucking when I forgot to mark the center (almost never). It may be my lathe, but with all that extra length and weight of the chuck hanging off the quill it seems to sag a little. Close enough in most cases but never perfect.
 
I use one occasionally to help get a piece centered on a vacuum chuck. But it doesn't always help like you'd think - if the wood has moved enough it may not work. I usually find it's better to tweak the alignment "by hand" to get the piece running true where it matters (around where I'm going to work the foot).
The main use I have for this adapter is when I'm [re-]assembling a multi-part piece and have a tenon on each end. Like some of my rocket boxes that ends up being assembled tail+ring+body+ring+nose. Chucks can hold both ends, which lets me get all the middle bits aligned.
 
I did that a few weeks ago, not on a bowl but while tightening two chucks on tenons on the ends of an 3" end grain cylinder about 10" long. I wanted it to be as precise as possible for the next stages of the project.

Yes, the newly turned tenon should be perfect true and centered but depending on the wood and the chuck jaws/tenon diameter/tightening force, etc., I think aligning the chuck by using the tailstock can help minimize misalignment as fibers are crushed by the jaws. I experimented with this before and discovered it could improve precision.

However, I prefer to use a solid 2MT adapter with threads for the chuck instead of a live center+adapter. I don't rotate the piece while tightening the chuck.

I don't think I would bother using this method for a typical bowl. But a friend did on a large bowl with a relatively thin rim. (instead of chucks, he used two faceplates, one with double-sided tape. Now he has chucks.)

JKJ
 
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Like JKJ above, I use a MT 2 adapter and skip the live center in the process - I think it's the weak link in the chain. I use this method regularly, but find that I still need to tweak the bowl when its mounted on the vacuum chuck more often than not (I wind up moving the tool rest to the lower edge of the foot, turn the bowl by hand to find the low spot, then release the pressure to let the bowl settle just a little higher). It usually takes two or fewer adjustments to get it truly centered.
I shoud point out that I'm far from a production turner – I enjoy the process and seldom care if I'm taking a few more minutes to get it right.
 
When I make taller segmented urns they are made in two pieces. Next step is to glue them together and finish turn. To do the work I made a tail stock center same as the Oneway only with much bigger bearings. It works great. Other than the urns, I use it to center stuff on a vacuum chuck. I guess in the end its a specialty tool without too many uses.
DSCF1636.JPGIMG_E6815.JPG
 
Will Armstrong said:
am wondering if anyone uses this adapter to improve chuck centering onto a tenon? Trying to figure out if it is worth the bother.
Click to expand...
I use this method all of the time. Once I have a blank mounted I don't "let go" of the piece until it's done and ready for finish. I will pass the mounting back and 2 or 3 times, often to a sacrificial glue block. But caveat here, I'm not making bowls, but sculptural pieces, and accuracy is very important.

For a bowl (unless very thin walled) it may not be worth the cost. But that said, if I am making a bowl, I use the above technique, because I have the equipment and I'm used to the procedure.

I haven't found "sagging" to be a problem, but I would be interested in the MT2 - spindle thread adapter that JKJ and JeffSmith mention. Anyone suggest a source?
 
Mark Jundanian said:
... I would be interested in the MT2 - spindle thread adapter that JKJ and JeffSmith mention. Anyone suggest a source?
Click to expand...

One source I always trust: Best Wood Tools.
(Be sure to pick the right spindle size/thread!)

I've bought a lot from him and have never been disappointed.

While I was on that page I decided to order another one since when I loaned mine to a friend I missed it and cried and cried. Well, missed it anyway. :)

JKJ
 
Thanks to you all for your thoughtful responses. Your comments always contain some useful nuggets of wisdom that help me understand the many ways of solving problems. I was hoping that the adapter would help improve my frustration with the “wobble” I often get when flipping and mounting in the chuck.

The MT2 spindle adapter seems like a better choice for the situations you have outlined when exact alignment is warranted. Thanks for the source!
 
@Will Armstrong, also give some thought as to how you will remove the "stack", particularly how you will remove the headstock faceplate/chuck. If you use a MT adapter the stack will no longer rotate. So, for example, you may find it cumbersome to access all of the faceplate screws. I use a SN2 wood screw, so it's a simple matter to open the chuck jaws and release the screw, but with other types of screw chucks the screw is built in.
 
Those live spindle nose threaded adapters for the tailstock can be handy from time to time. I wanted one in the late 1990s so I made two since I had two wood lathes with different thread drive spindles. I even made an extra one for a donation to the AAW symposium #13 (IIRC) auction. It is good to see that the adapters are available now on the retail market (such as they are). I don’t use mine much but when it is needed, it is needed.

At first I worried that it might unthread but after having used it for 25 or so years, it has never happened. I do make sure I've tightened it adequately.

1998 - 1.jpg
 
Packard woodworks also sells a spindle adapter for $40. Theirs is an aluminum thread section pressed onto a steel Morse taper. Works well for my occasional use.

My 2 cents on transferring to a chuck without introducing a wobble.
Tenon forming is key. I cut mine with a spindle gouge, a cut across the shoulder,,not at right angles,,but slightly downhill. And the cut defining the dovetail angle, slightly greater than the angle of the chuck’s dovetail. Only two rings should be in contact when the piece is mounted. For clarity let’s say the bowl is setting on a surface bottom side up. The uppermost edge of the tenon and the outer edge of the shoulder. These should sit true on the chuck, with a bit of a gap at the very inside corner of the turned dovetail. It’s very important that the inner edge of the chuck dovetail doesn’t touch that inside corner.
Theoretically,,these two should mate exactly. Thats only theoretical when talking about wood and turning. So, one should do what is practical and cheat just a little. If the chuck is touching the inside corner, a wobble is likely, whereas the chuck against the two outside edges will be accurate and tight.

Beyond that, the accuracy and smoothness of the tenon is paramount. A method I used when trying to learn to create a proper dovetail was do it the best I knew how, and then mount the chuck,to the piece and run the lathe. Unless the chuck ran dead true, I would take it off and try the tenon again. Try the chuck again, till it was right. I reverse the piece onto the chuck and then remove the original holding (faceplate).

Any lathe vibration will be transmitted to the tenon. It will be slightly off center. I adjust the lathe speed for the smoothest, even if it’s slower than I like. Just make slower cuts.

Since this method my tenons are near perfect. I can mount a bowl, work on it, remove it and store in plastic till next time. Remount it with no run-out. When reversing on to the chuck, I have no wobble clean-up. It’s satisfying and a big time and headache saver.

I share this hoping it will help.
 
Marc Banka said:
Tenon forming is key.
Click to expand...

Unless one uses a recess instead of a tenon. Then forming a perfect recess is key.
I think the methods used often depend on what you turn and how you work. And sometimes, the type of wood.

Good points. I've seen cases of improper holding. Even not considering the precision, one guy's bowl came off the lathe more than once.

JKJ
 
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