How to Select a Live Center

Click Here to use our interactive selection tool for Live Centers.

Selecting a Riten live center is a great start toward getting the right center – one that will perform to your expectations and meet your needs. To ensure that you get the appropriate center for your application, here are some basic things you need to determine:

1. Determine the machine’s taper. Morse taper is the most common in lathes however Jarnos and Brown & Sharpe tapers are more commonly found in grinding machines. If you are not sure what taper is required, the machinist handbook is a great resource for determining taper size. Or contact Riten technical support at: sales@riten.com
    
2. Determine the weight of the workpiece. Also take into consideration cutting forces. The workpiece weight of each Riten live center is stated next to the part number. This is the maximum weight that the live center can carry safely.
    
3. Determine the required operating speed. Most lathes do not reach RPM’s over 5,000, and grinding machines rarely reach RPM’s over 500. For applications requiring more than 6,000 RPM please see the all new Riten Typhoon live center.
    
4. Determine the point style that best suits your application. Riten Long Point and Tracer Point live centers offer maximum tool clearance for typical lathe applications, and the Standard Point live centers are best when rigidity and weight requirements are most important.
    
5. Riten has the largest selection of standard live centers in the industry and you may find more than one center fits your application. Cost is always important, but it is always best to choose the live center that will bring out the full capabilities of your machine.