Hello MRW, That's a four prong drive centre which fits into the morse taper in the lathe spindle- no doubt you know that now 2 years later. I didn't get a good look at the one you have, but sometimes if they come with your lathe they are garbage, but there are tons of good ones to be had if you shop around. I've seen a few youtubers putting them into the headstock, lining up the workpiece centre marks and winding down HARD on the tailstock wheel to get the 4 prong drive centre to engage, which makes me cringe when you think of the unnecessary load being exerted on the bearings. I mark the timber centre, line up the centre point and thump it into the wood (spindles and crossgrain) with a mallet to avoid damaging the end of the morse taper. You're left with four prominent marks in the wood allowing you to locate on any four locations, without all of the horrible heavy tailstock winding. Blah Blah, , , just sayin' 🙃
Hello MRW, That's a four prong drive centre which fits into the morse taper in the lathe spindle- no doubt you know that now 2 years later. I didn't get a good look at the one you have, but sometimes if they come with your lathe they are garbage, but there are tons of good ones to be had if you shop around. I've seen a few youtubers putting them into the headstock, lining up the workpiece centre marks and winding down HARD on the tailstock wheel to get the 4 prong drive centre to engage, which makes me cringe when you think of the unnecessary load being exerted on the bearings. I mark the timber centre, line up the centre point and thump it into the wood (spindles and crossgrain) with a mallet to avoid damaging the end of the morse taper. You're left with four prominent marks in the wood allowing you to locate on any four locations, without all of the horrible heavy tailstock winding. Blah Blah, , , just sayin' 🙃
unfortunately most of the action takes place off camera