Repairing a tailstock taper

claudio123 said:
It looks like nobody has any experience using a roughing reamer. I have not had success with the finish reamer in my tail stock. so i have a choice. either spend another $45 on roughing reamer and hope it will clean up the taper or spend nothing and setup my taper attachment and clean up the tail stock then finish with the finish reamer.
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It was a very simple process by hand for me to fix mine. Why you are haveing so much trouble is beyond my knowledge and abilities. Maybe someone much smarter than me like Bill, Richard, Ray, ect. will answer that.
 
if it that simple then obviously i don't know what i am doing. I think that's why i asked for help. i used cutting oil i turned slow by hand with a wrench. i filed a corner to make sure that it was not hardened. i bought a new finish mt2 reamer so i know its sharp.
 
What exactly is the trouble you are having? I can't say much about using the reamers. I have MT3 roughing & finish reamers, one is Chicago Latrobe & the other is Interstate. Used them once only & they haven't seen the light since. I used a generous amount of cutting fluid with the reamer supported by a dead center in the spindle, used the TS wheel to advance feed (very minimal), & a wrench to turn the reamer.

I thought I had pics but I can't find them in my archives. It didn't come out with a very nice looking finish & not sure if I knew what I was doing when I did it but my tapers do seat properly now. Before reaming I had issues with my drill chuck coming loose. Now it only takes one whack or two with a mallet to seat my drill chuck tight unlike before.
 
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Before you ream the hole be sure the center-line is correct with the head-stock. You can see how we check that on my Forum Machine Scraping and Restoration, scroll down our list of subjects and you will see a post about headstock / tailstock alignment and the 2 collar test.. Once it is aligned properly and it must be done by scraping or in worst case file it so the side is right on and the height running straight or .0005 to .001" high in the front of the quill top also pointing up slightly because if it is worn it will be low and pointing down. We are in the process of aligning the tail-stock on a SB lathe as we speak in our GA Scraping Class and I will add some photo's tonight. But after yo know how low it is you will have to shim it up. You should also check to be sure the quill OD and the TS hole is worn, I will add that check to the potos tonight also.. There are a few ways to repair this and I will tell you tonight or tomorrow. If the machine is worn and the TS is pointing down and you read the hole the hole will be egg shaped.
And please do not try to indicate the hole of the tail-stock as we explain in the HS / ST 2 collar test posts. Got to go...school starts at 8:00. Rich

PS: One of the students took some photo's and will send them to me to add hopefully next week.
 
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You may want to try a brake cylinder hone. I have done some nasty cylinders and came out well. I
found the trick is, to use carb. cleaner. Just keep the hone moving, while spraying. Then use carpenters
blue chalk which works very good. Try and find a three stone, piviting, hone sold cheap anywhere.
 
Richard King said:
Before you ream the hole be sure the center-line is correct with the head-stock. You can see how we check that on my Forum Machine Scraping and Restoration, scroll down our list of subjects and you will see a post about headstock / tailstock alignment and the 2 collar test.. Once it is aligned properly and it must be done by scraping or in worst case file it so the side is right on and the height running straight or .0005 to .001" high in the front of the quill top also pointing up slightly because if it is worn it will be low and pointing down. We are in the process of aligning the tail-stock on a SB lathe as we speak in our GA Scraping Class and I will add some photo's tonight. But after yo know how low it is you will have to shim it up. You should also check to be sure the quill OD and the TS hole is worn, I will add that check to the potos tonight also.. There are a few ways to repair this and I will tell you tonight or tomorrow. If the machine is worn and the TS is pointing down and you read the hole the hole will be egg shaped.
And please do not try to indicate the hole of the tail-stock as we explain in the HS / ST 2 collar test posts. Got to go...school starts at 8:00. Rich

PS: One of the students took some photo's and will send them to me to add hopefully next week.
Click to expand...

I used a blake co-axial indicator and the 12 oclock and 6 oclock were right on. the 3 oclock and 9 oclock were off and i adjusted to 0. The problem is that someone spun a chuck or drill in the tail stock and left some ridges that the finish reamer will not take out. Should i invest in a roughing reamer to start the process is the question?
 
Indicating the hole is only 1/2 the battle. You need to be sure the quill is pointing straight and parallel to the bed and HS also. Lock the TS down to the bed move the quill out all the way and lock it. Mount a mag base on the compound and put the indicator on the side of the quill. Then and move the saddle and indicate to see if the quill is parallel to bed ways. Then do the top. These procedures are in the post I mentioned earlier.

If the quill is aligned then turn a center down in chuck ( or HS taper) and put your reamer in the quill slide the TS with reamer in it putting the reamer center hole in the chuck center. Lock out power, Put the head in a low gear speed or locked position so the spindle does not turn. (pull the breaker, no power / locked out!.) Then put a wrench on the reamer square and with slight pressure maybe 1 / 16 inch turn on TS wheel, not distance of travel but diameter of wheel after it is tight against the tapered hole. then turn reamer slowly 2 to 3 times by hand.

It should pull it self in and should only take a little bit to clean a spun burr. Be so careful not to turn it n to far. Maybe .005" tops should do it. You need to check to be sure the reamer does not hit or bottom out in the bottom of the hole before hand. Look in there with a flashlight. Some quills are hardened and need to be ground. I would suggest finding a shop with ID grinders. Neither of you say what kind of machine you have. Also I never use a Drake Indicator as I find they are not accurate. I know many hobbyist love them, but I am a professional machine builder / rebuilder and do not use them as I have seen several people who have used them get the wrong readings.
WARNING:
DO NOT CHUCK REAMER IN CHUCK AND USE POWER AS THIS CAN SUCK THE REAMER INTO THE QUILL AND RUIN IT OR HURT SOMEONE.
TURN OFF POWER TO THE MACHINE and LOCK IT OUT.
 
Richard King said:
Indicating the hole is only 1/2 the battle. You need to be sure the quill is pointing straight and parallel to the bed and HS also. Lock the TS down to the bed move the quill out all the way and lock it. Mount a mag base on the compound and put the indicator on the side of the quill. Then and move the saddle and indicate to see if the quill is parallel to bed ways. Then do the top. These procedures are in the post I mentioned earlier.

If the quill is aligned then turn a center down in chuck ( or HS taper) and put your reamer in the quill slide the TS with reamer in it putting the reamer center hole in the chuck center. Lock out power, Put the head in a low gear speed or locked position so the spindle does not turn. (pull the breaker, no power / locked out!.) Then put a wrench on the reamer square and with slight pressure maybe 1 / 16 inch turn on TS wheel, not distance of travel but diameter of wheel after it is tight against the tapered hole. then turn reamer slowly 2 to 3 times by hand.

It should pull it self in and should only take a little bit to clean a spun burr. Be so careful not to turn it n to far. Maybe .005" tops should do it. You need to check to be sure the reamer does not hit or bottom out in the bottom of the hole before hand. Look in there with a flashlight. Some quills are hardened and need to be ground. I would suggest finding a shop with ID grinders. Neither of you say what kind of machine you have. Also I never use a Drake Indicator as I find they are not accurate. I know many hobbyist love them, but I am a professional machine builder / rebuilder and do not use them as I have seen several people who have used them get the wrong readings.
WARNING:
DO NOT CHUCK REAMER IN CHUCK AND USE POWER AS THIS CAN SUCK THE REAMER INTO THE QUILL AND RUIN IT OR HURT SOMEONE.
TURN OFF POWER TO THE MACHINE and LOCK IT OUT.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I will check the quill for straight and parallel tomorrow and if it is i will proceed with your method. The lathe is a 1940s 11 inch Sheldon that my father gave me. Best i can tell the tail stock quill is not hardened.
 
Unless the machine was seldom used, I would bet it is pointing down and low. If It is there are a few ways to repair it: Make a new Tail-stock bottom slide; Machine bottom and install bronze or cast iron wear plates; Scrape and install permanent shim made of Phenolic or plastic shim; or put in temporary shim. I would probably opt for # 3, but if you don't scrape you could install a permanent shim. The front say a .010" and .005" in back. I would say Plastic shim that is epoxied in-place. Let me know and I'll walk you trough the procedure. You can get Plastic shim stock assortment like this:
http://www.mscdirect.com/product/00019208
 
Richard King said:
Indicating the hole is only 1/2 the battle. You need to be sure the quill is pointing straight and parallel to the bed and HS also. Lock the TS down to the bed move the quill out all the way and lock it. Mount a mag base on the compound and put the indicator on the side of the quill. Then and move the saddle and indicate to see if the quill is parallel to bed ways. Then do the top. These procedures are in the post I mentioned earlier.

If the quill is aligned then turn a center down in chuck ( or HS taper) and put your reamer in the quill slide the TS with reamer in it putting the reamer center hole in the chuck center. Lock out power, Put the head in a low gear speed or locked position so the spindle does not turn. (pull the breaker, no power / locked out!.) Then put a wrench on the reamer square and with slight pressure maybe 1 / 16 inch turn on TS wheel, not distance of travel but diameter of wheel after it is tight against the tapered hole. then turn reamer slowly 2 to 3 times by hand.

It should pull it self in and should only take a little bit to clean a spun burr. Be so careful not to turn it n to far. Maybe .005" tops should do it. You need to check to be sure the reamer does not hit or bottom out in the bottom of the hole before hand. Look in there with a flashlight. Some quills are hardened and need to be ground. I would suggest finding a shop with ID grinders. Neither of you say what kind of machine you have. Also I never use a Drake Indicator as I find they are not accurate. I know many hobbyist love them, but I am a professional machine builder / rebuilder and do not use them as I have seen several people who have used them get the wrong readings.
WARNING:
DO NOT CHUCK REAMER IN CHUCK AND USE POWER AS THIS CAN SUCK THE REAMER INTO THE QUILL AND RUIN IT OR HURT SOMEONE.
TURN OFF POWER TO THE MACHINE and LOCK IT OUT.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I will check the quill for straight and parallel tomorrow and if it is i will proceed with your method. The lathe is a 1940s 11 inch Sheldon that my father gave me. Best i can tell the tail stock quill is not hardened.
 
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