Getting a growl when turning

[John Torchick]

Seems like it is worse as I work toward the tailstock. I have made sure that I'm not forcing the cut but letting the tool do the cutting. I do know that the 60 degree live center is several years old. Any way to clean or lube it? There are two holes in the back for some sort of spanner wrench. I can run the lathe without anything and the headstock has no noise. Your help is most appreciated.

 

[Tom Albrecht]

Try a different live center-- beg, borrow, or steal.

I rebuilt mine. I don't know which you have, but most should be rebuildable, as in replace the bearing.

 

[Richard Coers]

Try turning a shorter spindle and see if the pitch of the growl changes. When I was learning, I gripped the chisel way too tight and had vibration issues. Relax your grip and see if that changes. There are either 1 or 2 bearings in the live center. You can disassemble it, get a pick under the seals, and get a little light oil under the seals.

 

[Jim Byrne]

The two holes are used to remove the back so you can lube or replace the bearings.
I replaced the bearings in mine but found the cost of the bearings was more than the cost of a new live center.

 

[Don Wattenhofer]

The two holes are used to prevent the center from turning so that you can remove that large aluminum cone and exposing the cup center, which is far superior. If you use a small rod that will fit into the hole and turn the outside until it goes thru the mating hole in the shaft, than there should be a shallow hole in the side of the cone that can be used to remove it.
The bearings in there are sealed so there is no way to lubricate them but they can be replaced.

 

[John K Jordan]

Seems like it is worse as I work toward the tailstock.

Is it a Oneway or a Oneway clone as comes with some lathes such as Jet and Powermatic? Maybe a photo?

I agree with the suggestion to borrow a center and test to see if it behaves differently.

Are you turning spindles between centers or with one end mounted in a chuck? Diameters, lengths? Maybe double-check the center point alignment on the headstock/tailstock. I almost never use a cone center, but with any live center the alignment can be critical when holding one end in chuck and the mounting sequence might be important.

If it is a Oneway or clone, as someone mentioned, you can constrain the rotation with the supplied rod through the holes to remove the cone. Another use is to make special-use attachments that screw onto the threads on the ends - drill and tap a block of wood to fit (3/4x10tpi I think) then put a piece of soft iron wire through the holes so I can mount the live center in the headstock and turn the block as needed. (Hold with drawbar.)



Another thing - if the center point is knocked out from the back it reveals a #0MT socket - can turn a variety of attachments that way too - easier, cheaper, and more compact than the threaded block method. Turning a #0MT attachment is quick and simple.



This might be useful or at least interesting.

https://oneway.ca/pdf/Live%20Centre.pdf

These live centers have two sealed bearings. I have no experience with removing/replacing a bearing in a live center. Google showed some videos and a statement that bearing replacement may not be simple.

Might be easy to find a replacement since some people have spares - I recently gave away two of the clones. (All those I've had are black, identical size and design, no markings.)

BTW, if you end up being in the market for a new live center I highly recommend the Nova - has so many advantages it's the center I use the most (if not using steb centers)

JKJ

 

[John Torchick]

JKJ, not sure of brand of 60 degree live center. Turning between center and working up to a lidded box of some sort. Length of cherry is about 3 OD and 5-6 inches long. As mentioned, I don't get the growl until I get from the middle to the end at the tailstock.