Source for female centers?

JST · Nov 4, 2009

looked in MSC, and other places, and found not much if anything other than very expensive live centers with interchangeable points.

Actually could use and might prefer solid center as opposed to a live center, as it is for low speed like grinding and also guiding of small taps/reamers with "point centers" instead of holes.

No solid centers female to be had in MT2 anywhere I looked.

Only interchangeable point live centers, and I was not sure that they all had female centers.

I even tried drilling an old center, but even after grinding a substantial flat on it, the only thing that would touch the material was a carbide spade bit, and Even that was unhappy doing it. The material must have been either case hardened quite deep, or else was HSS.

Probably wouldn't have turned out as-desired anyway, as the spindle is MT3, and I had to use an adapter.

Anyone know where to get them?

I have tiny ones for the watch lathe, no help for the MT2.

MyrtleLake · Nov 4, 2009

Only ones I know of are pricey: GEPY makes a dedicated female live center in MT's up to #5.
http://www.daswiss.com/turningGrindingAccessories.htm

The real Leigh · Nov 4, 2009

One of our members has been selling sets of NOS centers.

I bought an MT2 set, and a couple of them are female, though live rather than dead (I think that's a good thing).

Very nice products, made by Huron. I'll bet a search for that name would find the threads.

- Leigh

L Vanice · Nov 4, 2009

I have several of the interchangeable point live centers. The first one I bought was a good Japanese set, many years ago, and kind of expensive in today's dollars. The ones I bought recently on eBay did not seem very expensive, and one was a new Chinese set.

If you can get by with a sort of soft solid center, make one out of a Morse taper drill bit. The tapered part is softer than the drill bit part, possibly a carbon steel shank welded to a HSS bit in the area where you see the size stamped. Or start with a carbon steel Morse taper drill bit arbor, possibly drawing the temper of the chuck mounting taper to make it machine easier.

Larry

JST · Nov 5, 2009

The real Leigh said:
One of our members has been selling sets of NOS centers.

I bought an MT2 set, and a couple of them are female, though live rather than dead (I think that's a good thing).

Very nice products, made by Huron. I'll bet a search for that name would find the threads.

- Leigh

I bought a set of centers from him, but the only ones with female centers were the large pipe centers. Most of the taps and reamers small enough to have a "point center" will fall right thru the minimum diameter on those. The hole is over 0.2"

Sounds like annealing a case-hardened center is about it, although when re-hardening, I'll probably need to Kasenite it, because I'll have cut away the hardening, and the case would probably decarb anyway.

David Utidjian · Nov 5, 2009

JST,

I bought the Huron sets also. Damn excellent tooling. Love the center-drill-countersink holders (and the live and dead centers.)

For tapping on the lathe (and drill or mill) I made up a few stubby 60 degree pointed centers out of O1. The shanks I made in same size as some of my more commonly used collets. Hardened and tempered. FIts in to the hole on my tapping handles (collet type.)

I have also made my own MT2 female centers. Basically just a center-drill-countersink in a blank MT2 arbor. I have made my own from O1 or bought pre-made blanks with machineable ends. Victor.com is one such supplier. At $5 a blank it isn't worth it for me to turn the taper.

-DU-

USMCPOP · Nov 5, 2009

Could you use an MT2 end mill holder and make inserts for it?

recoilless · Nov 5, 2009

J:

I think Victor markets MT shanks with blank ends that are noted in the ad as machineable. Would this help?

Milacron · Nov 5, 2009

At first I thought you were looking for girls that could snap the football to the quarterback really well.

Sea Farmer · Nov 5, 2009

Milacron said:
At first I thought you were looking for girls that could snap the football to the quarterback really well.

Or:

http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/charles_tina00.html

crossthread · Nov 5, 2009

Being a lazy schmuck the last time I needed a female center I just turned one with a recess in the back to fit my live center. I just slip this "sleeve" over the center. Would work on dead center too of course.

Toms Wheels · Nov 5, 2009

I have one of those tap centers, spring loaded, point on one end, recess on the other. Its 1/2" dia, held in a chuck, could easily be mounted on a MT2 tail piece.

JST · Nov 5, 2009

making is indeed an option. I have used the VM blanks before, in fact I just did recently, I had a small stock of them in MT2.

However, the VM blanks I have had to re-grind to be an actual MT2, they were a thou or three "off" and rattled. Too much trouble to return, and I wanted one right then.... all theirs had problems, and I had three in front of me, so I just let them know. I don't particularly want to do that again, so......

Then also, MT2 is a lot smaller than my spindle, and the usual drill adapter is not exactly a precision tool, so the centering leaves a bit to be desired. I have already found that out also.

It is more accurate if I can set the order of operations, even though that means I do the taper. But I draw the line at "making an adapter in order to make a tool in order to do what I want to do" in this case if I don't absolutely have to.

Toms Wheels said:
I have one of those tap centers, spring loaded, point on one end, recess on the other. Its 1/2" dia, held in a chuck, could easily be mounted on a MT2 tail piece.

Ah, I was not aware that they were made that way. That is quite helpful. Thank you.

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