# Cleaning up MT2 and MT3 tapers?



## cdhknives (Apr 9, 2018)

After so many decades of hard use by several previous owners the bore of my spindle (especially) and tailstock are quite scarred up.  I was thinking about trying to borrow/rent/buy reamers to knock off the high spots but read that some tailstock rams are hardened steel and will dull reamers.  SO, will a HSS reamer work on a 10F spindle and tailstock or are they too hard?

If it will work, anyone know of a place that rents such reamers as they are fairly pricey for a 1 time use item?


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## jpfabricator (Apr 9, 2018)

Pm sent

Jake Parker


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## Rooster (Apr 9, 2018)

Greetings, perhaps you could look into having a professional grind them for you.
 I can't see any-one renting something that could so easily damaged.


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## benmychree (Apr 10, 2018)

The fact that they are scarred up hints that they are likely soft, and could be cleaned up with a reamer.


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## magicniner (Apr 10, 2018)

benmychree said:


> The fact that they are scarred up hints that they are likely soft, and could be cleaned up with a reamer.



+1 
Additionally (no pun intended) some of the problem spots are probably softer material smeared onto the surface. 
My first job in the workshop this morning will now be to clean out my tailstock taper with a reamer. 
The fingers on one hand will count how many times I've needed to use the reamer to clean the tailstock taper in 20+ years of using the lathe, this thread has reminded me that I've been noticing that tools haven't been locking in place quite as sweetly as they should without it yet being annoying enough to make me seek a solution.


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## benmychree (Apr 10, 2018)

I, personally have no such problems with my lathe tailstock; I do not use it for such tasks as drilling, the center rarely leaves its home in the tailstock quill; those other tasks are accomplished with a morse taper holder in the Aloris tool post.  Other lathes that I have run, specifically those American Pacemaker lathes, have had tang slots in the quill, which also helped the situation, although they also had drill holders for the compound rest, this being many years ago, sort of pre Aloris.


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## magicniner (Apr 10, 2018)

benmychree said:


> I, personally have no such problems with my lathe tailstock; I do not use it for such tasks as drilling, the center rarely leaves its home in the tailstock quill.



It's nice to know you don't have a problem due to lack requirement for tool-changing. 
I too have a QCTP holder for MT2 which is great for jobs requiring more travel than the Tail Stock facilitates but my self-ejecting Tail Stock is just so fast and convenient for Centre Drilling, pilot drilling and other operations within it's travel capability that that's what I use, purely because I don't waste time, I have other things to do


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## benmychree (Apr 10, 2018)

Dare, I say that changing tools with a MT tool holder in the Aloris QCTP is quite a bit faster than in the tailstock could ever be?  One little whack with a hammer is all it takes, and once you get used to it, center drilling is not at all difficult, at least in my experience.


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## cdhknives (Apr 10, 2018)

Since my tailstock quill stays nicely aligned with the spindle centerline for drilling, it is much faster than aligning all 3 axis (X, Y, and rotation) for the QCTP MT2 holder, plus using a rod to knock out mounted items (much less holding long items) in the headstock MT3 taper (like my collet adapter for 3C collets or a dead center) is inevitably going to scratch up the bore there, plus using a drill chuck allows drills that don't come in MT2 shanks...like most all tap drill sizes.  I change between centers and the drill chuck regularly.  Then there are the small MT1 bits that require an adapter.  The list goes on and on.  Heck I could never accept the off center QCTP holder for drilling as it will want to twist off centerline under pressure...not a recipe for long lasting drills.  No, the tailstock quill is the place for everyday drilling operations on my lathe.  YMMV.


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## cdhknives (Apr 10, 2018)

Good point in smears being transferred metal...that could mean the ram is harder than thought, or it could be soft and being gouged.  Hard to tell and a dang small hole for inspection.  I suspect a good HSS reamer will be ok in either case...I'll just need to use a delicate touch for cleanup, not try and hog out any significant metal.  Still I wanted to see if anyone here actually had experience with this in an Atlas lathe.


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## cdhknives (Apr 10, 2018)

Oh, I also have found out the hard way that leaving a center in my tailstock is a great way to find out just how sharp that point is using body parts not designed for the purpose.  It now lives with a nice plastic plug till needed.


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## wa5cab (Apr 11, 2018)

I bought and used a 3MT reamer on a 2MT arbor last year to clean up my spindle.  It was held in the tailstock ram.There were a couple of high spots.  It still ran true after the minor surgery.  I would comment that if both tapers are scarred up you would have to pick which one to start with.  And if both are pretty bad, do a little in one and then a little in the other, alternating back and forth.


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## BenW (Apr 12, 2018)

I would guess that the spindle and tailstock ram are hardened to some extent, but probably no match for the reamers. These reamers should be glass hard and since you're only taking a few high spots off it should hardly(hehe) pose a problem. 

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk


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## wa5cab (Apr 12, 2018)

Yes, the reamers (or at least good ones) are harder than the spindle or tailstock ram.


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## cathead (Apr 14, 2018)

The MT3 reamer I ordered on E-Bay just arrived today.  My tail stock was pretty much in rough shape from years of use/abuse. 
It takes a bit of hand cranking with an 18 inch Crescent to smooth things out.  The only problem I had was that my MT3 live center
bottomed out.  My choices were to machine off a bit of the center or a bit of the tail stock.  I opted for the center and removed about
.050 inch off the back side of it.  That solved that problem and now all my MT3 stuff fits nicely.  The reamer is razor sharp but
still it takes quite an effort to get the job done.  It was $12.00 well spent.


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## Rooster (Apr 14, 2018)

$12. , tell me more. Like who did you get it from.


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## cathead (Apr 15, 2018)

Rooster said:


> $12. , tell me more. Like who did you get it from.



Do a search on E-Bay for " MT3 reamer" and you will find them if you scroll down a page or so.  Mine came 
Hong Kong and the price is $11.16 plus $1.56 shipping.  There are 5 left as of this morning...


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## Rooster (Apr 15, 2018)

Thanks cathead, it amazes me the deals that can be had with Asian products. I love the free or cheap shipping, so what if it takes 2 months.


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## cathead (Apr 15, 2018)

Rooster said:


> Thanks cathead, it amazes me the deals that can be had with Asian products. I love the free or cheap shipping, so what if it takes 2 months.



I just checked my E-Bay history and it took 17 days so quicker than one might expect.


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## Rooster (Apr 15, 2018)

That's very quick, the quickest for me was carbide inserts in 21 days.


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