Centres

Headstock and tailstock centres come in a number of different forms:

Dead centre

A centre that does not rotate; commonly found on the tailstock of a lathe.

Also, an expression for the exact centre of an object.

Half male centre

A dead center that has a portion of the 60 degree cone cut away.

Live centre

A centre that revolves with the work, for example the ball bearing type tailstock centre.

See also: Morse Taper.