Somebody Else's Good Idea for Lathe Tapers

yes you are write, the ball bearing goes in the headstock end and you use a face plate and a dog to drive it . If you only off set the taper a small amount you can use s pointed center in the headstock end. It works great.
 
I use a ball bearing center in the headstock and this adjustable center in the tailstock


Can ya expound on how exactly to use your set up? I would like to cut tapers on my Griz 4003, that has no taper attatchment
 
The one ball bearing center goes in the headstock if you need to cut a taper that are are kind of drastic, other wise for a mild taper just use s normal center and a face plate and a dog to drive it . The adjustable center is put in the tailstock horizontal, and is adjusted for the taper you want, you do not adjust the tailstock at all.
 
I recently ordered some of the books from the Workshop Practice Series. Among these was #15, Workholding In The Lathe by Tubal Cain (not Mr. Pete). I saw an excellent idea for using a boring head as an offset tail stock:

View attachment 228627

I'm going to try this.
Hi,
It's a very good solution for precise conical turning, with Pythagore tables you can make very accurate angles, a cheap solution is to recycle a boring head made with a cylindrical attachment for a revolver lathe mounted on a Morse taper recycled drill for example, you can found them for less than a half of a Morse taper model, normally it's 18 or 20mm., I suppose you have the same sort of standards diameters in inches.
Have a nice day.
Pierre
 
the co. i used to work for had them to adjust the center height on there thread grinders. You can put it in either direction horizontal or vertical depending on what you want it to do. The name marked on it is taper-tail it is a purchased item.
 
Mutt, this eBay number 2528171598 is a type of off center line live center.

Using just your lathe if you don't have a mill , you can make one based on the same principle but so it fits in the tailstock taper

Does it give you an idea of how you may be able / can make one using :- a purchased new Morse taper , a dead center Morse taper cut & bored at the widest blunt end & a short turned up off center axle with two sealed bearings to join things up ?

Perhaps it can be locked to the right taper by using graduations that line up & a locking screw in a sleeve or a simple screw thread with lock nuts to lock things rigid once the graduations line up .

There will be a need to ensure the offset is kept located horizontal to the lathe bed & on center I'd use a cut down big darning needle held in the headstock chuck to align it accurately .
 
I haven't done this yet, but I think I'll proceed like this:

1. My boring head has a screw thread to attach a straight or R8 shank. I plan to make an MT2 shank and thread it for the boring head.

2. Make a short shaft to fit in the holes on the boring head. Mill a flat tab on the end and drill a hole through it.

3. Turn the center and mill two slots with holes to fit over the shaft tab. Screw through them to tighten down at the desired angle.

4. Round the nose on an MT3 center for the head stock. I don't see the need for a ball bearing as the center will turn with the work.
 
On the Boring head shown in the photograph the centre is fitted in the hole that the boring tool usually fits the swing action allows the tool to be roughly adjusted up to 90°
most heads now have 3 holes to cover this option.
Brian.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Back
Top