Comments for Leif - No, I never did try a pipe wrench. Perhaps that
would have been better. Certainly the bicycle inner tube would have
offered much more protection that the tape I used.

As to why I had such a bad sticking problem, the spur center came
installed in the lathe and had never been removed in 2 years. I used
to tap the wood gently onto the spur center with a mallet (I think
this is recommended in the Jet manual). Perhaps this was the culprit.
In any case, I won't do that anymore. In the future I will keep a nut
on the spindle when using the spur center to assist in removal.

Hey! Come on now guys! If I had realized that you were still having
problems with the sucker, I had a couple of other aces up my sleeve. First,
though! Did you try the pipe wrench? You mentioned visegrips, but they
wouldn't be strong enough. All you needed was a an 18 or 24 inch pipe
wrench and a ten to twenty foot length (*G*) of galvanized pipe to slip
over the handle of the wrench and you could have rotated your shop and
perhaps the world. I forgot to mention that I now use an old bicycle inner
tube to protect the spur drive collar instead of tape. The rubber really
grips it.

Now to the causes and conditions of the matter. What caused such a stubborn
issue in the first place? I read on this newsgroup that this type of
sticking is due to not keeping the morse taper clean. Since that time, I
have had no problem with sticking drive centers. Get a metal gun bore
cleaner brush and some solvent and clean that puppy up. Both sides: head
stock and tail stock and also the drive centers themselves!

Leif