4 spur center

[foxtrapper]

You can cut spinning slow. But, slow or fast, you cannot cut too aggressively. I suspect you're digging in too aggressively with your tool, causing the spur to slip and skid.

[woodburner]

Are you turning on a SS MarK V? By your comments in previous posts about belt changing I will guess you are not.

Without knowing the actual type of lathe you are using, it makes it hard to help you with the right answers.

For me, except for hard woods, I use a rawhide mallet to drive the spur into the wood. No drilling holes and such, its not needed unless your wood is very hard. You also want to make sure you have enough tension on your wood between the headstock and tailstock. But make sure you are not putting too much tension on the piece. This will cause the spur center to strip out and cause the problems you are having.

I doubt going to slow is causing your problems, unless you are having lot of catches with your chisels. Starting your lathe to fast with the spindle mounted can cause the spur drive to strip through the slots due to all the torque being released all at once, and cause the piece to fly off the lathe. This is a dangerous practice and should not be done. Starting at a slow speed and working your way up is the correct and safe way so you can check for vibration, etc.

Also, you didn't mention if you are having a lot of catches with your chisels. This also will cause your piece to come loose from the spur drive. Make sure your chisels are sharp. Dull chisels can cause a lot of problems and are more dangerous to use from a safety standpoint. If your chisels are sharp and you are still getting a lot of catches and dig ends, it might be time to work on your woodturning techniqes themselves.

Your problem just might be not knowing how to use your chisels properly. Best advice I can give you for that is you should consider taking some woodturning classes. You should contact a local woodturning club in your area. They usually have a member or two who enjoy teaching beginners the basics and passing on there knowlege.

To find out if there is a woodturning club in your area, check out the AAW (American Association of Woodturners) website. They have listings of all the clubs in the states and overseas with contact information.

Hope this info helps and have fun turning.

[ralphtaff]

I have a Mark V 500 the sheeves and every thing inside was bad so i configured it like a 10er in order to use it.i used a 1horse motor it works fine i have cut a few boards with it and it is right on the money.That is why ihave to use pullys to make it work. i know it is a jerry rig but i did not have $250.00 to buy all the parts to fix it right.So now i am toying with the idea of getting a scroll chuck instead of fixing the ss like it should be.I have used the drill press option, the lathe, and the saw. The jointer looked real bad so i never tried it. i use my router to true up the glue edges. so far i do not see why i need to fix it up real soon. maybe i am not thinking good but i could change my mind. $250.00 to fix the machine,$99.00 to buy a chuck.I have the $100.. to get the chuck now sooooo.?I have turned 10 to 20 bowls with the ringmaster,10 to 15 bowls on solid blocks i use a face plate on those AND i use double face tape i have only had one bowl come loose on me. i tried the screw center and it came loose on a green bowl. i refastened it to a wood face plate with gorella glue then i finished the green bowl. The bowl is in a DA soak at this time,will see what the DA will do to the gorilla glue.

[ralphtaff]

FIGURED OUT MY TROUBLE. mY SHOPSMITH IS A PEICE OF JUNK. THE QUILL SHAFT HAS A BIG WOBBLE IN IT THAT CAUSES THE SPUR CENTER TO WOBBLE OFF THE BOARD.

[billmayo]

FIGURED OUT MY TROUBLE. mY SHOPSMITH IS A PEICE OF JUNK. THE QUILL SHAFT HAS A BIG WOBBLE IN IT THAT CAUSES THE SPUR CENTER TO WOBBLE OFF THE BOARD.

Your Shopsmith sounds like it has been neglected and not well maintained. Sounds like a lot of people I know. Most Shopsmiths I buy are in this condition but it is not a problem for me. I can rebuild each one to a like new condition as Shopsmith still carries replacement parts for the Mark V. Is your Shopsmith a Mark V? If you are interested in repairing it or selling it, you can contact me off line and we can go from there.