How to ream a #2 Morse taper

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Olle

The #2 Morse taper in the tailstock on my lathe has seen better days, so I'm planning to refresh it. I was thinking about simply putting a reamer in the chuck, move the tailstock up against it and slowly feeding the spindle, this should not only make things easy to hold, it should hopefully make for perfect alignment between the chuck and the tailstock as well.

I have never tried this before and I'd hate to ruin the tailstock spindle (and maybe the reamer as well), so does anybody have any recommendations on RPMs, lubrication or any other important things to think about?

Yes...Take plenty of pictures so the rest of us also get a learning experience...

Hmmmmm...Same recommendations as to reaming barrels, I guess...Lowest speed; feed 1/32" at a time, back out & blow out chips & re-oil; high-sulphur content cutting oil [Ridgid pipe cutting oil is good; they used to have a special extra-high sulphur content cutting oil for a better surface finish]...

And make sure it's not hardened...Center it as best you can so you don't open it up to a #3 size...Maybe coat the ID of the hole with machinists blue so you can see that it's cutting 360º and not just on one side...

It sounds like a good idea; you've got me interested in 'machine centering' my tailstock as well...maybe taper pin its' base in place first so I can always return to center...

<Runs off to Travers catalog to see how much a #2 Morse taper reamer costs>

Edit: The more I think of it, the more I'm disgusted that I haven't thought of this once in the last 43 years [my first real job was as a production machinist back in 1969 - I was 19]...A straight shank #2 Morse taper reamer is only ~$45 from Travers...

I Thank You for bringing this up!!!

I now plan on stripping my tailstock down, file off any burrs, adjust my inserts, taper pin the base in place as a 'zero', and ream the center...Maybe even clean it...

Edit: Just checking my tailstock 'barrel', you/I may need to make sure the reamer doesn't 'bottom out' on the tailstock screw...Might need to use an abrasive cutoff wheel/hand grinder to remove an eighth of an inch off the reamer end...

Also there is a bit of free play in my tailstock barrel clamp...Maybe tighten it up as much as possible while feeding so as to get a more accurate center...