Doug White wrote in
:

Thanks to the suggestions on a machining problem I posed in another
thread, it looks like I need to buy myself a live center. My lathe
is an Emco Maier Super 11, which has a #2 Morse taper. It was bought
new & babied since, so it's capable of doing very accurate work.

There are quite a few options, with a pretty wide range of prices. I
could go with a $40 dual bearing model with no specified accuracy, up
to a kilobuck for a Royal toolmakers set with interchangeable points
and a TIR of 0.00005".

snip

I have been satisfied with the Czeck made Skoda center I purchased 15 years
ago. Reasonably priced and repair parts are available, seems like they
stand by their product instead of being part of the toss it and buy new
economy. I wouldn't mess with a spring loaded center unless you know the
spring rate will provide adequate holding force for your application.