I need to make a tapered mandrel. Material choice?

[P. Waller]

How do you turn a bore with a mandrel and tail stock in the way?

 

[MarkM]

I offset my tailstock to turn the taper on the shaft. The nut and washer for pressure with the right combination of washers for spacing. For example I can use a bushing like the one on the shaft for a brake drum where the bearing would go. Like i said earlier it was to be able to run true. This was a 42 ford pickup brake drum with a hub rusted and missing a lug bolt. I didn t feel comfortable the way the jaws clamped the cast hub so that s what started that project. Customer was a mechanic and said he would deal with the hub. A can of worms for sure! I can also use it to inspect something with a slight lose fit spaced accordingly and also sqeeze something to turn. That shaft with the two collars and the 60 degree shaft beside is used to put the tailstock back true. Rather than take the chuck off and use a dead centre i ll recut that 60 degrees each time and run that shaft between centres and take a cut of each collar and measure. When the same it s straight. I just use friction drive off the dead centre and take a very light cut. The vfd with soft start helps with that. You may have to take your chuck off and and put the dead centre in if you keep fighting the polish from the abrupt starts and spins. Maybe not. I first used a dead centre in the tailstock then checked my live centre. Same measurement again so all good now for accurate cuts.