Crown Drive Center For Wood MT2

Crown centers get their name from their resemblance to crowns, but what’s noteworthy about this style is not its appearance, but its significant advantage over the traditional 4-prong drive center, which entails a multi-step preparation process (first, drilling a precise hole at the center of the workpiece, and then meticulously cutting four slits around that hole to ensure the center could adequately grip the wood). This method was not only time-consuming but also introduced potential for error if the cuts were not perfectly aligned.

In contrast, these crown centers are much easier to install. To prepare your workpiece for turning with a Crown Center, all you need to do is punch a single hole at the center of the wood. This central hole serves as the positioning point for the spring-loaded pin of the Crown Center. Once the workpiece is positioned on the pin, you simply advance and tighten the tailstock, and the work is forced onto the crown points of the drive center. Done!

The crown center’s design also offers another meaningful benefit: since the crown has so many points, they grip without needing to drive deeply into the wood. Should your tool ever jam in a cut, the shallower crown points can slip off (rather than the drive center forcing the wood) so the workpiece will not be thrown or damaged. If this happens, just re-tighten the work so that the center grab again and resume your turning.

The Gramercy Tools Treadle Lathe comes with a 1” crown center. This size is suitable for most work, but we also stock a ½” small version for smaller work for which the bigger center won’t fit. We also sell replacement 1” crown centers.

The centers have a standard MT 2 arbor (Morse Taper 2) to fit most wood lathe headstocks.