New from Robust is this ring drive for the headstock in a #2 Morse taper. Sometimes called a safety driver or cup drive, technically it is a small ring drive that drives from a sharp rim driven into the wood. The safety aspect is that the turner controls the amount of drive by how much tension is placed on the stock by winding the tailstock. This is an excllent drive for learning difficult tools like skews chisels, with children or anyone new to woodturning. To use, after marking the center of the wood block, drive the center into the wood using a deadblow mallet (never a hard hammer). Once comfortable with turning you can modify the ring's edge by filing three shallow scallops into the rim with a chainsaw file or small grinding stone in such a tool as the Dremel or Foredom. This allows driving with limited slipping while turning woods with very hard end-grain such as hard maple, cocobolo, purple heart, Osage orange, white oak, etc. This type of center also allows remounting work onto the same center point, unlike spur centers. Both Robust and Oneway--two of the top lathe makers in the world--only supply their new lathes with this type of drive. Periodically sharpen the rim of the center with a fine cut mill file.
With the threaded section of the drive the turner can add cones that also fit tailsstock live centers--placing into openings in drilled or turned holes. With a 3/4" x 10tpi tap the turner can make a variety of wood chucks that thread onto this center.
