Are there any turners out there that use the above? Sorby have just
started making them and I am wondering if they are as good as they
sound?

John (UK)

John,
Steb centers have been available from Packard Woodworks and Craft Supply USA
for several years. All reports I have heard about them have been positive.
However, I have not used one myself, so this is not a 1st person
testimonial.

Lyn, have you done an evaluation on these?

Ken Moon
Webberville, TX
*******************************

"John Young" wrote in message
...
Are there any turners out there that use the above? Sorby have just
started making them and I am wondering if they are as good as they
sound?

John (UK)

Hi Ken,
I haven't ever formally written anything up on these, but I do have both
sizes and like them a lot. Other than for roughing out big stuff, when I
use a BWT Texas drive, these are what I almost always use for between
centers work.

The Steb Center is notable for two things, Rather than drive spurs, the
drive ends in a toothed/serrated ring with a center drive point. The
toothed ring is either 7/16 in or 13/16 inch if I am remembering
correctly (depending on size) and the center point is 3/16 inch hardened
steel rod. The center rod is spring loaded to normally extend out past
the level of the toothed ring.

The toothed ring is great because it cause no wedging/splitting forces
that can occur with traditional spurred drives. The spring loaded center
point is the real feature though, as it allows stable positioning with
adjustable drive force. You can essentially back off the tailstock ram
to allow the spindle to remain stationary in position between the live
center and this drive center pointed rod. Cranking in the tailstock ram
will compress the central rod and allow the spindle to become pressed up
against the toothed drive ring. How much ram pressure will determine how
much rotational resistance will be tolerated before the spindle will
begin to slip against the teeth. If you creat a lot of ram pressure,
then the ring is pretty much as effective as any comparably sized spur
drive, but back off pressure and you can count on your spindle remaining
located, but capable of easily slipping when a catch or skate occurs.
Dimply or drilling a shallow central hole in the drive end will further
increase the ability for the central point to remain in contact under
light pressure, though usually enough of a depression is made just by
tighening down the tailstock ram once.

Reportedly, production turners can remove and replace spindles without
ever having to stop the lathe, just loosening the tailstock, pressing
the spindle up against the center rod by hand, and then tightening down
the tailstock. I have tried this technique a few times and it does work,
but rarely am I in such a position that the time to stop the lathe might
be considered troublesome.

All in all a great drive center. I wish they made a headstock spindle
mount version (like the BWT's Texas drives), so I didn't have to mess
with removing my vacuum chucking adapter to deal with dismounting the
current version from the Morse taper. It offers good clearance, doesn't
split the wood and allows for controlled engagement. Just about
everything I could ask for in a drive center meant for spindle work.

Lyn

Ken Moon wrote:
John,
Steb centers have been available from Packard Woodworks and Craft Supply USA
for several years. All reports I have heard about them have been positive.
However, I have not used one myself, so this is not a 1st person
testimonial.

Lyn, have you done an evaluation on these?

Ken Moon
Webberville, TX
*******************************

"John Young" wrote in message
...

Are there any turners out there that use the above? Sorby have just
started making them and I am wondering if they are as good as they
sound?

John (UK)

Lyn J. Mangiameli wroteclip) I wish they made a headstock spindle mount
version (like the BWT's Texas drives), so I didn't have to mess with
removing my vacuum chucking adapter (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^
Lyn, you are referring to the way the vacuum connection gets in the way of
the knockout bar, right? I no longer have that problem, since my Stubby has
a built-in connection. However, on my previous lathe, I dealt with that by
making a split-nut which I could slip over the threaded spindle--then
unscrewing the nut drove off whatever was in the Morse taper.

Let me know if you would like to have one of these.

Hi John,

The Stebcentre has been around for a number of years, it was
originally developed by Gerry Stebbings and sold through a few limited
outlets in the UK and overseas. Robert Sorby have been granted
manufacturing rights in the last few months.

A full test and review is on the Creative Woodturning web site. Click
on the links below.

Regards....Mike Swain


Stebcentre
Review

Creative Woodturning

http://www.creative-woodturning.com/productssteb.htm

Hi Lyn

Yes the Stebcentre is a great asset to any woodturner. I have used
them for several years and found them excellent. I have a couple of
the Sorby ones and they are superb, one of which is an 1 1/4" in 2MT
which I think would be of interest to you. I found details and the
sizes available on the robert-sorby.co.uk website and then got it from
my local dealer. I not sure if Sorby make a spindle mount version, but
if not, I am sure that if enough of us ask they may produce some.

Merlin

What is the advantage og the stebcentre.

Two things which, depending on your own turning work, are pretty useful
about it that I like ...

1) The serrations. They don't mark your work as much or as deep. They don't
want to split your turning as much as a 4 or 2 spur drive. They work pretty
well on uneven surfaces where maybe only half of the serrations are actually
touching wood. You'll get several serrations digging in to drive the wood
around instead of maybe just 1 spur on a 2-spur drive.

2) The spring-loaded center point. You can back off the tailstock pressure
on a spinning piece a little (with the lathe still running) and the center
of the stebcentre will still keep contact with the wood but the serrations
won't. The wood will stop spinning but still be caught between the centers
while the lathe is still running. This way, you can quickly check your work
without having to turn the lathe on/off as much. This helps with production
turning as well. You can just keep the lathe running while mounting and
replacing work as you want.

- Andrew



"PMarks1694" wrote in message
...
What is the advantage og the stebcentre.