Thread: loose morse taper fix

All I can see that doing is making the problem worse in the long run.
It would just wear out the tail stock taper that much sooner.
Just my 2c worth

Would that book be on dodgy fixes?????
For about $25.00 from McJings you could get a steel morse taper reamer. Do the job properly and trim up any dings that may be in there at the same time.
You would also have it forever and loan it to friends if need be. Blasting the inside MAY be OK if it was rusty, but any dents would still be there.
Kryn

I'm reading it as more of a quick fix than a real fix. If the interanal taper is that bad though don't you think it should be fixed by the time it got to that stage?

The fastest way to damage both the male and female taper !

The right way is to ream the bore out, but only enough to clean it up. You don't want to remove more metal than needed.
Continuing to use damaged tapers is likely to cause damage to other tools used in them.

Regards:

Agreed. Even the temporary fix posted the other day (using a lathe dog to stop spinning) has me wondering because a spinning taper still means the taper is damaged somehow. While it is not spinning and so damaging the socket, I'd be wanting to fix the taper as soon as I could to prevent potential further damage.
The other day I turned down a MT3 drill to MT2 on my lathe and it went surprisingly smoothly once I had the right speed selected. In fact, the hardest part was thinning down the tang.

Michael

Originally Posted by Michael G

Agreed. Even the temporary fix posted the other day (using a lathe dog to stop spinning) has me wondering because a spinning taper still means the taper is damaged somehow. While it is not spinning and so damaging the socket, I'd be wanting to fix the taper as soon as I could to prevent potential further damage.
The other day I turned down a MT3 drill to MT2 on my lathe and it went surprisingly smoothly once I had the right speed selected. In fact, the hardest part was thinning down the tang.

Michael

In most but not all cases the dog is used when the drill is larger than should be used in the available taper.

Originally Posted by pipeclay

In most but not all cases the dog is used when the drill is larger than should be used in the available taper.

Is there a rule of thumb for that? I guess you could say if it slips it's too big (or you're feeding to hard?). Another guide may be what drill sizes are available with which tapers. But neither answer seems very satisfactory.

Try again

Originally Posted by KBs PensNmore

For about $25.00 from McJings you could get a steel morse taper reamer.

Has anyone tried the cheap McJing MT reamers? The only other MT reamers I've seen were well over $100.

Originally Posted by jack620

Has anyone tried the cheap McJing MT reamers? The only other MT reamers I've seen were well over $100.

RDG or Chronos in the UK sells them ( cannot remember which vendor I got mine from ) ... I bought a #2 set some time ago , to repair the tailstock quill on my Sheraton. The set includes a roughing and a finishing reamer . The set was under $50 from memory Mike

Originally Posted by jack620

Has anyone tried the cheap McJing MT reamers? The only other MT reamers I've seen were well over $100.

I got mine from Ozmestore on ebay but possibly the same - a pair of MT2s like Mike's - and have no complaints. They did seem to somewhat improve the tailstock on my small lathe, though I never tried to verify geometry by bluing.

I got mine from McJings and it works extremely well cleaned up my T/S and H/S and a mates as well.
Kryn

Originally Posted by morrisman

I was reading a book. It explains that to fix a worn tailstock internal morse taper condition on a old lathe , you sand blast the male end fitting of the taper to make it non-slip .

Mike

You mean sandblasting a male taper to prevent it from slipping in a worn Tailstock barrel? Don't do that, one day you may want to use that same male taper in a drill press or in another lathe or in a mill spindle. If you are after a quick fix, there is a harmless and non destructive, non permanently accuracy degrading method: rub some chalk (the same stuff you use to write on a blackboard, or to prevent your files from clogging) onto the male taper. That should prevent slipping, or at least make it much harder.

But in my experience, if you only once allowed a taper to slip under load in your tailstock, you have scored the female barrel taper. This barrel will now forever let slip whatever you stick into it, damaging whatever male taper you stick into it - until you remove the scored area. If the score is still only a narrow ring, you can use a round oilstone to carefully remove the score ridges inside the barrel. If the damage is larger and your TS barrel is soft, you can use a reamer to VERY LIGHTLY clean up. If your TS is hardened, a reamer has no chance and will be permanently damaged if you try. You either need a new barrel, or use a small internal grinder. The male taper is usually soft, use a fine oilstone to remove small dents and score rings from the male taper.

Cleanliness can avoid the problem in the first place. Make it a habit to ALWAYS put a cork or rubber plug into the barrel when you remove the chuck or center or tool. Never use the lathe with an open tailstock barrel, it just catches dirt and dust. Always METICULOUSLY clean both male and female tapers, before joining them together. Always inspect the male taper for ever-so-tiny dents and remove any found dents with an oilstone. Any dents or dirt/dust will make the male taper slip, and remember, it takes only one slip under load and the TS barrel is scored and possibly ruined! Also remember, most TS barrels have no catcher for a tang at the end of a male taper. There is nothing but friction to prevent the taper from slipping. This means be considerate what size of holes you try to drill: boring out or using a rotabroach or step-drilling may all be less of a risk for the TS taper to slip. If not using your lathe for a while, OIL the chuck arbor and the TS barrel inside before putting together to prevent rust from fingerprints -- BUT remember to remove all oil and clean both tapers before re-using the machine!!! Chris

Chris

Your writings make perfect sense . Some of the ex school lathes , my Sheraton for example, have suffered from years of abuse and neglect in the hands of students . In my case , the internal taper was pitted rather badly by some form of corrosion . Slipping was rather chronic . Don't know if Sheraton hardened anything but I needed to apply the roughing #2 reamer with some force before it had any effect . It was a worthwhile thing to do as the pitting was reduced down to about half of what it was . Slipping no more

These days , with the cost of new tooling being what it is , it isn't worth risking using old damaged male tapers that are likely to spin .