Cutting down a #2 dead center

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Lenny

Lenny

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It seems my new #2 dead center is too long for my Jet mini. What would be the best way to cut it down? On a grinder? Power hacksaw? How hard do these things cut? :confused:
 
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Lenny said:
It seems my new #2 live center is too long for my Jet mini. What would be the best way to cut it down? On a grinder? Power hacksaw? How hard do these things cut? :confused:
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Lenny how much do you have to remove? if you have an angle grinder, a cutoff wheel might be the easiest, usually they are a bit too hard to saw, and a bench grinder might take quite a while. but use caution, you don't want it too short, make sure you get a good seat in the tail stock.
 
That seems very odd..did you buy it in a store? Can you take it back & check lengths on other units? Is your tailstock working properly..fully retracted???
 
Johnnycnc is the expert. He offers to cut down the centers he sells. He cut mine down, and it works just fine in my Jet mini.

Tom
 
Lenny said:
It seems my new #2 live center is too long for my Jet mini. What would be the best way to cut it down? On a grinder? Power hacksaw? How hard do these things cut? :confused:
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Lenny I am going to go out on a limb here and take a guess on a hunch so don't get offended if it's not the case.

Is your tailstock quill fully retracted in the tailstock? If so, use the handle and run it out about half an inch and see if the center doesn't slide right in.
 
:redface: Yeah, :redface: I should have had Johnny cut it down for me when I ordered it!

I'm using it in the headstock, hoping to give TBC a try. I know what you mean about retracting the tailstock though. :biggrin:

It almost seats ... so maybe I don't have to remove as much as I first thought.:confused:
 
I had the same problem when I purchased a full-sized jacobs chuck. I ended up cutting off a piece of the end with an angle grinder, and then doing the rest on my bench grinder. Just be careful not to nick any of the sides that will not be cut off.
 
I corrected my initial post to read "dead center"... sorry ... I tend to think whatever goes in the headstock is a"live"! :rolleyes:

I remembered I have a Proxxon "dremel" like tool with cut off wheels and much to my surprise it trimmed off about 3/16" with very little effort. After a little more work on the grinder I think I have it seating ok now!
Thanks everyone!
 
I had to grind the back #2 jacobs chuck, just a tad, to fit in the head stock. I used an old bench grinder. The tailstock just had to be extended a little like the post above said. Carl
 
Unless something has changed since I bought mine, the Jet Mini tailstock does not accommodate standard 2MT shanks. You can buy live centers in a short version. I've cut down the regular length shanks on my abrasive chop saw. I made a little jig to hold it in the saw's vise.

EDIT: Never mind... I thought this was a tailstock issue :)
 
jeff said:
Unless something has changed since I bought mine, the Jet Mini tailstock does not accommodate standard 2MT shanks. You can buy live centers in a short version. I've cut down the regular length shanks on my abrasive chop saw. I made a little jig to hold it in the saw's vise.

EDIT: Never mind... I thought this was a tailstock issue :)
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It WAS....... Lenny changed the title mid stream just to confuse us, it's all his fault........kick him off the forum! :biggrin:
 
I don't understand how any size MT 2 dead center wouldn't fit in the head stock. The length of the dead center should have no effect. The taper is a specific angle and then you have a specific diameter. So if the back end of the dead center came all the way too a point, it still should affect nothing. The worse that could happen is the point sticks out the back by the crank handle. Or..the point sticks out into the bed extra far which is still not going to cause it not too fit, although if the point stuck out too far across the bed it would increase your run out. The only way it can be too long to fit is if it was in a tail stock that did not have a through hole. So I'm as lost as anyone else.
 
Hey if the guy says it wouldn't fit, then I think we should give him the benefit of the doubt...it didn't fit! Besides Johnny makes a point on his website of the possible need to cut his lower cost dead center, so I can only conclude that this must be an issue with some lathes.
 
On some lathes, the tapered section may only be for a certain length, at which point the diameter is reduced at the handwheel. Something like the following crude sketch.

taper.jpg
 
turbowagon said:
On some lathes, the tapered section may only be for a certain length, at which point the diameter is reduced at the handwheel. Something like the following crude sketch.
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Never seen that on a JET mini though. This is the first I've heard of it being a problem.

I do like your illustration skillz though.
 
I have two Jet 1014's and one had to have the dead center cut down.
The other one.. no issues.
The root cause is it is a short taper that stops at some point
in the spindle bore.
 
Texatdurango said:
It WAS....... Lenny changed the title mid stream just to confuse us, it's all his fault........kick him off the forum! :biggrin:
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Talk about starting a post off on the wrong foot :biggrin: :rolleyes:
Geezz... too bad I can't turn the clock back 30 years and take that Techincal Writing course over again....

But thanks all for your help... now to look over that TBC tutorial again..:smile:
 
I have heard that a picture is worth a thousand words....... so I like photos!

Here is a shot of the headstock spindle on my Jet Mini lathe. See the ridge the arrow is pointing to, that is where my taper stops, exactly 2.82" from the spindle face. So, turbowagon's drawing is pretty well spot on and we've all learned something!
 

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Lenny said:
Talk about starting a post off on the wrong foot :biggrin: :rolleyes:
Geezz... too bad I can't turn the clock back 30 years and take that Techincal Writing course over again....

But thanks all for your help... now to look over that TBC tutorial again..:smile:
Click to expand...

Uh Oh, just don't use a spell checker, grammar and spelling are my weak points. I owe my poor grammar to living in Texas most of my life and my spelling to not caring enough!:wink:


TomW said:
I love it when everything falls into place, and the world keeps spinning!
Tom
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Now we can light a cyber campfire, form a circle and sing.... Kum ba yah, my Lord, kum ba yah! :highfive:
 
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Yes, now we have learned something for sure, although why it would be like that is unknown! Must be one of those genius engineer ideas.. "Hey guys, I got a great idea. Lets make a little wall inside the spindle so that the tapered center can't accidentally push all the way through!" :rotfl:
 
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