Got a bunch of firewood that I am using to practice technique on with
my newly made oland-style tool (which is working GREAT, btw). The
problem I am running into is with the 4-prong drive-center.

the lathe is a taiwanese steel-tube, cheapy with 3/4-16, mt1 drive.
The center is 4 stubby, little prongs with a pointed middle pin. I
hammer it into the wood, mount the piece and apply pressure with the
tail-stock. So far so good -- except when I manage to get a catch. In
those situations, the drive-center seems to just route a nice
concentric circle and will no longer hold or drive the wood.

Not sure what kind of wood it is but "feels" about as hard as
poplar,i.e., not real soft but not real hard either.

Should I loosen my belt so that it will slip when I get a catch?
Should I get a different type of drive-center(where?) Or should I just
get better quality firewoodgrin? I have a faceplate and guess I
could use that but it is a pain especially for just doing some spindle
work.

thoughts, suggestions, comments, donations of Oneway lathe are welcome

Bill W