I'm new to woodworking and particularly turning. I recently purchased
an old craftsman lathe with a good motor. It is missing the pointed piece
that actually holds the tail end of the wood on the tailstock. I have
checked the sears website and the part or parts that were originally used
for that have been discontinued. I was thinking about having one made at a
local machine shop. I think I need just a circular point welded to a nut
that threads onto the tailstock assembly. Is there a certain angle I
should use for the point? I'm thinking about 60 degrees would be OK.
Better yet is there somewhere else I can get this item or something else I
can use inplace of it?

Thanks
woodslave

In article , woodslave wrote:
I'm new to woodworking and particularly turning. I recently purchased
an old craftsman lathe with a good motor. It is missing the pointed piece
that actually holds the tail end of the wood on the tailstock. I have
checked the sears website and the part or parts that were originally used
for that have been discontinued. I was thinking about having one made at a
local machine shop. I think I need just a circular point welded to a nut
that threads onto the tailstock assembly. Is there a certain angle I
should use for the point? I'm thinking about 60 degrees would be OK.
Better yet is there somewhere else I can get this item or something else I
can use inplace of it?

Unless the lathe is some particularly bizarre design, you should be able to
use pretty nearly any spur center or live center that has the appropriate
taper to fit into your tailstock -- probably a #1 Morse taper (1MT).

Try posting in rec.crafts.woodturning and you'll probably get a lot more
response than you will here.

On Wed, 09 Jul 2008 22:15:30 GMT, (Doug Miller) wrote:

In article , woodslave wrote:
I'm new to woodworking and particularly turning. I recently purchased
an old craftsman lathe with a good motor. It is missing the pointed piece
that actually holds the tail end of the wood on the tailstock. I have
checked the sears website and the part or parts that were originally used
for that have been discontinued. I was thinking about having one made at a
local machine shop. I think I need just a circular point welded to a nut
that threads onto the tailstock assembly. Is there a certain angle I
should use for the point? I'm thinking about 60 degrees would be OK.
Better yet is there somewhere else I can get this item or something else I
can use inplace of it?

Unless the lathe is some particularly bizarre design, you should be able to
use pretty nearly any spur center or live center that has the appropriate
taper to fit into your tailstock -- probably a #1 Morse taper (1MT).

Try posting in rec.crafts.woodturning and you'll probably get a lot more
response than you will here.

He did, and got some good answers, Doug...
But most of us said the same thing that you did.. ;-]



mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

In article , wrote:
On Wed, 09 Jul 2008 22:15:30 GMT, (Doug Miller) wrote:

In article , woodslave
wrote:
I'm new to woodworking and particularly turning. I recently purchased
an old craftsman lathe with a good motor. It is missing the pointed piece
that actually holds the tail end of the wood on the tailstock. I have
checked the sears website and the part or parts that were originally used
for that have been discontinued. I was thinking about having one made at a
local machine shop. I think I need just a circular point welded to a nut
that threads onto the tailstock assembly. Is there a certain angle I
should use for the point? I'm thinking about 60 degrees would be OK.
Better yet is there somewhere else I can get this item or something else I
can use inplace of it?

Unless the lathe is some particularly bizarre design, you should be able to
use pretty nearly any spur center or live center that has the appropriate
taper to fit into your tailstock -- probably a #1 Morse taper (1MT).

Try posting in rec.crafts.woodturning and you'll probably get a lot more
response than you will here.

He did, and got some good answers, Doug...
But most of us said the same thing that you did.. ;-]

[Chuckle]

guess I must have missed his post in rcw.

You didn't miss it. I just took your advice.

Thanks


On Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:48:44 +0000, Doug Miller wrote:

In article , wrote:
On Wed, 09 Jul 2008 22:15:30 GMT, (Doug Miller) wrote:

In article , woodslave
wrote:
I'm new to woodworking and particularly turning. I recently purchased
an old craftsman lathe with a good motor. It is missing the pointed piece
that actually holds the tail end of the wood on the tailstock. I have
checked the sears website and the part or parts that were originally used
for that have been discontinued. I was thinking about having one made at a
local machine shop. I think I need just a circular point welded to a nut
that threads onto the tailstock assembly. Is there a certain angle I
should use for the point? I'm thinking about 60 degrees would be OK.
Better yet is there somewhere else I can get this item or something else I
can use inplace of it?

Unless the lathe is some particularly bizarre design, you should be able to
use pretty nearly any spur center or live center that has the appropriate
taper to fit into your tailstock -- probably a #1 Morse taper (1MT).

Try posting in rec.crafts.woodturning and you'll probably get a lot more
response than you will here.

He did, and got some good answers, Doug...
But most of us said the same thing that you did.. ;-]

[Chuckle]

guess I must have missed his post in rcw.

Don't know how old your lathe is. My old craftsman lathe was built in the
late 30s and has a #2 Morse taper..

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
...
In article , woodslave
wrote:
I'm new to woodworking and particularly turning. I recently purchased
an old craftsman lathe with a good motor. It is missing the pointed piece
that actually holds the tail end of the wood on the tailstock. I have
checked the sears website and the part or parts that were originally used
for that have been discontinued. I was thinking about having one made at a
local machine shop. I think I need just a circular point welded to a nut
that threads onto the tailstock assembly. Is there a certain angle I
should use for the point? I'm thinking about 60 degrees would be OK.
Better yet is there somewhere else I can get this item or something else I
can use inplace of it?

Unless the lathe is some particularly bizarre design, you should be able
to
use pretty nearly any spur center or live center that has the appropriate
taper to fit into your tailstock -- probably a #1 Morse taper (1MT).

Try posting in rec.crafts.woodturning and you'll probably get a lot more
response than you will here.

In article , "Jim Hall" wrote:
Don't know how old your lathe is. My old craftsman lathe was built in the
late 30s and has a #2 Morse taper..

Craftsman lathes from the 70s and 80s generally use #1.

You can get a live center for #2 or #1 morse taper at Pen State
Industries for $20.

http://www.pennstateind.com/store/li...k-centers.html

I bought a cheap live center at Sears over 30 years ago and it still
works perfect. I remember the one sold by Rockwell Delta at the time
cost about 10 to 20 times as much, or some such ridicules price, and
when I got the Sears one in the mail, I was very happy with the quality,
and I was right. Not sure how the Pennstate one will fare, but for the
money, I say go for it, you don't need no stinking $300 live center for
a wood lathe:-) 60 degree would be fine.


wrote:
I'm new to woodworking and particularly turning. I recently purchased
an old craftsman lathe with a good motor. It is missing the pointed
piece
that actually holds the tail end of the wood on the tailstock. I have
checked the sears website and the part or parts that were originally
used
for that have been discontinued. I was thinking about having one made
at a
local machine shop. I think I need just a circular point welded to a nut
that threads onto the tailstock assembly. Is there a certain angle I
should use for the point? I'm thinking about 60 degrees would be OK.
Better yet is there somewhere else I can get this item or something
else I
can use inplace of it?


--
Jack
http://jbstein.com