Another little gem from the ARC team

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Joined
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Crewe, Cheshire, UK
I said a while ago that Arc Euro would be coming up with a few new ideas and solutions to help us with our machining, and at reasonable prices also, well here is another one to make you lick your lips.

Have you ever struggled to get a cutter onto the tailstock end of a job when turning a part between centres? It is usually a very tight exercise, but I have found this one amongst their new items selection, and it seems to solve most of those problems.

It is a 2MT live centre, that has a very small supporting head and an equally small extended centre stuck into it. This has been made possible by some very neat precision bearing work in the head, to give good support and thrust features. UK made as well, they should engrave a little Union Jack on it, as there is not much coming out of this country now.

Mine had a few thou end float, but that soon disappeared as soon as slight pressure was put onto the centre, and it was silky smooth as well. I don't know what bearings they have used in there, but they really are nice, unlike a lot of other 'lumpy' ones I have come across (and own). This one looks to have been really well thought out.

SmallCentre1.jpg



And to prove it does work, I have left my large topslide in it's normal operating position and just moved the large tipped tooling a little bit forwards in the holder.

SmallCentre2.jpg


As you can see, even with this full sized (16mm) tool, it has no trouble getting to that 8mm bar. If I was to swing the topslide a very small amount and put a smaller tool in there, I could turn down to the centre tip without it fouling anywhere on the live centre.

SmallCentre3.jpg


Unfortunately, it does only come in one size, 2MT. But really, that didn't bother me , I just screwed in a release tang and wacked it into a 3MT adapter so that it would fit my tailstock.
All in all, a very nicely made piece of tooling that will come in real handy when I have some tight between centres turning to do.

I suppose I had better show you where I got it from.

http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catal...vensons-Small-Diameter-Revolving-Centre---MT2

BTW, I have no association with Arc other than when Ketan (the owner) or John Stevenson (tool designer) let me know when new stuff is about to appear in their pages. Usually, when they call me for a chat, little snippets do slip out occasionally, but I am sworn to secrecy most of the time.

I am under no obligation to them at all, but I do wholeheartedly support any manufacturer or tooling supplier who will bring new products to the market without ripping us off, and Arc really does satisfy both those criteria. If it was another supplier doing the same thing, then I would buy and review from them also, if I thought their tooling would help me in my shop.


John
 
Thanks for the info John. These guys (Arc) really have innovative products for the hobbyist. Another one for the wishlist.

Vince
 
John
That looks VERY useful. Also found this for those of us "across the pond."
http://www.lathemaster.com/LIVE CENTER SET, MT2 - 7PC..htm
Also, this one from Riten Industries has no price. When I see that and the words "Aerospace" and "Medical" in the same sentence, I assume that it is very expensive.

The Lathemaster center set is on backorder but Bob has been very accurate in the past as far as when something will be in stock.
If it's a long delay I may order from Arceurotrade if the shipping isn't too much.
Best
Stan
 
Hi John,

Hope everything is on the up for you both...and Bandit.

Thank you for the tip off; a cracking design!

Andy

 
Gents,

I think you are missing the point here.

This centre is designed for small work, and so it doesn't matter that it is lightweight.

I have seen those ones you mention before, but where they fail is getting the tool and it's holder into the tight space by the centre tip itself.
It is all because of the small size of the bearing housing and the long tip that allows this to happen on the one I have shown.

In fact I have already had one of those you mention, a few years ago, or one very similar, and I have given it away because it was no use for what I wanted it to do. This one from Arc is definitely a keeper for me as it solves a major problem in holding between centres work.


Andy,

It is five not three, Myself, John Jnr, Bandit, Turpin and Vinnie the Mog.

Thanks for asking, and yes, we are coping as best we can at this time, I am starting to get used to wearing creased shirts instead of nicely ironed ones.

John
 
Oh I like that John!
That'll drop right into my SB9...

Like you said.....no 1/4" DOC , but you won't be if your using it.

Dave
 
Couldn't resist. First order with Arc Euro Trade.
Hope it doesn't come by boat ;D
I could have used it yesterday.,


Best
Stan
 
Sshire,

(And any others here in the USA that did this),

Have you ordered from Arc Euro Trade and how was your experience?

I could really use the small 2MT live center and I am also considering the metric blocks mentioned a while back. When I look at Arc Euro Trade's website the prices look good when I convert them myself but the shipping is unknown and I've read the past posts on how that can be really expensive.

I have an unending list of things I want to buy for the shop (don't we all,) but I have to ration my hobby money carefully.

Thanks in advance for any input to my decision-making.

--ShopShoe
 
Shoe
I ordered the live center last week. I'll reports when it arrives.
Total with shipping was 49 USD.
I was surprised that the shipping was pretty reasonable ($18 IIRC) I was hoping that it wouldn't be so expensive that it would be cheaper to send Bogs a plane ticket and have him deliver it ;D
Best
Stan
 
I don't think the postage from the UK is too bad.

I have had stuff sent from the US, and the shipping rates have been almost extortionate.

I sent a 6 kilo (about 13lbs) package to the US last week and it cost me about 63 bucks via Fedex.

I'm glad you are liking the bits I am showing you.

I keep an eye on most of the tooling retailers in this country, just so that I might be able to show you something worth buying, but it seems that Arc are about the only ones in the UK coming up with anything new or reasonably priced. Mind you, I did find one bit for myself a couple of weeks back, at about 300 bucks below what everyone else was charging.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/220984348065?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Shame there was only one, otherwise I would have let you all know.


John
 
I have ordered from ARC a number of times, with shipping to Chicago. They ship very quickly, and it usually arrives within a week of ordering. Some US suppliers are slower to get stuff to me. They do have a lot of great stuff for the home machinist, that is unavailable here. Shipping of relatively light weight packages is very reasonable, but it does seem to go up quickly by weight. A few inconveniences though- They will only ship to the credit card billing address, and require a signature for delivery, for US shipments. Since I am never home when the postman comes, that means I have to pick up the package from the post office, which has short hours. You can't blame ARC for those policies, of course, since they have to protect themselves from scammers. I am just glad that they are willing to ship to the US. Their prices are reasonable, especially since US buyers aren't charged the VAT tax that is included in their pricing.
 
Hello.
Thank You for that tip,Bogs.
I've already got mine and it looks good.
Shipping to Germany was fast and now I'm making a tang for it.
When is it suitable to use a live center and when is a dead center better?
To date I only have had the opportunity to use a dead half center to support small diameters,
But now that I have the choice eventually...
Cheers,Ralph
 
Ralph,

It is a shame you didn't order the screw in tang at the same time, they are very cheap, and I myself keep a few different sizes in stock, just in case I or someone nearby needs one.

I personally would use a dead centre for fairly heavyweight items which normally run at a slow speed. But make sure that the centre is well lubricated on the tip, either high pressure cutting oil or even normal grease, and keep an eye on the temperature of the dead centre tip, otherwise if it does overheat, it really isn't much good any more. Also, don't put on too much tailstock pressure with any centre.

One of the main problems with live centres is although they can be taken to much higher speeds than a dead centre, they can't take the heavy weight loads that some people try to use them for, and they then wonder why either size or surface finish has suffered.
If you are in any doubt about the weight of the piece being turned, always use a dead centre.

Hope this has helped

John
 
Hello,John.
Thank you for your advice.
I prefere grease for my dead centers.I once made the experience that with oil,a center can anneal very fast.One day,while making a heavy cut in FCMS,the chips were blue and smoking,I've heard a squeaking and then the tip of the center was gone.All within a second.I used oil that day.
Making my own tang is a nice finger exercise for me,I'm not sad that I forgot to order them.
Actually I've to make four M10 screw in tangs and one 3/8 UNC.
Eventually I'll make some spares.
Today I made all the blanks and the threads.Tomorrow I will make the rest using an R4 ball nose cutter.
Never used one before.I hope there will be no surprise,I couldn't find any advice of how to use them properly.
Cheers,Ralph



 
Received my live center from across the pond. Only two weeks total from order to receipt. I also ordered a Morse 3-2 (or is is 2-3) sleeve from Enco since my tailstock is 3MT.
Very very nice. I used it this morning to make a barbed connector. Having the extra space around the center is a real plus.
Thank you, John!
8a602c37.jpg


Best
Stan
 

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