I replaced the original Delta live center on my 46-460 lathe with the Nova live center and I like it a lot except for the length of the point in the cup. It protrudes .300" before the cup is in contact with the wood. It takes a lot of force to penetrate the wood if it's anything hard. This is a lot of force on the headstock bearings. Do any of you drill a pilot hole first for the point to go in or is there any trick to make the point shorter while still engaging the cup into the wood? The original Delta point was shorter and had a steeper angle so that was not an issue.
Also when replacing the original Delta live center I lost 1.75" of usable turning length of the lathe. The Nova body is 1.25" longer (can't do anything about this) and the tappered shaft is 1/2" longer which does not allow the quill to be turned all the way in to zero (see the attached pictures of the tailstock scale). Would it be OK to cut 1/2 inch off the end of the Nova shaft so I don't loose 1/2" length capacity which I need for turning tool handles? Thanks for any and all feedback...
Paul
Delta center.jpgNova center.jpgCenter comparison.jpg