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04-27-2013, 06:24 PM | #1 |
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How to ream a #2 Morse taper
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? |
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04-27-2013, 06:37 PM | #2 | |
Lifer
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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...
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04-27-2013, 09:09 PM | #3 |
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Thanks for the tips, I have already bid on what I think is a good, US made reamer on eBay so I hope I can get going pretty soon. I don't think it will be too bad, my only major concern is the material. Setting a file to it should give me a good indication of how hard it is. I'll probably get back with more questions before I start, I usually want to cross the t's and dot the i's over and over ad nauseam every time I'm fixin' to ruin something expensive.
I really won't have much use for the reamer once I'm done, so if you have time to wait I'll just send it to you. I might even send it to you when I get it, so you can try first. |
04-27-2013, 09:19 PM | #4 | |
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While I have the tailstock 'barrel' out, I'm going to graduate it. I have a scribed line every inch (only 3 inches travel), but I'd like some more graduations...At least every eighth... I also need to thin the base boltheads...They interfere with my Luger barrel taper cutting...
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04-27-2013, 09:31 PM | #5 |
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I think I'm going to upgrade mine to some kind of simple DRO. I have seen them made by modifying and attaching digital calipers, which would make it accurate and very easy to read. I added that to my mini mill a while back, and it makes life so much easier.
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04-29-2013, 04:24 PM | #6 | |
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I had looked into DRO's some years ago and the ones I looked at fastened to the table and had a 'tire' that ran along the way...Didn't look too dependable or trustworthy to me... I'm looking at several in Travers catalog and I can't tell how they measure the distance traveled except that I don't see that stupid 'tire' so I'm guessing they use some kind of linear gradient to measure with... Even the 2-axis DRO's are expensive...
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04-29-2013, 06:03 PM | #7 | |
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04-29-2013, 07:40 PM | #8 | |
Lifer
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It says the strips can be cut to suit...So I would want to order the next size longer than my travel and cut it to fit??? I have both x & y axis on my 3in1 Chinese machine...So I would need two kits??? Or three if I wanted to get z axis [quill] readout as well??? I spray a lot of chips...Does the strip & reader need to be covered from chips/lubricant??? My 3in1 [pic below] has a 40" bed but only 33" of it is really usable...And the cross feed is 18" but only 7" is usable... I'm thinking one 35" and one 12" and I'll cut them to fit... I'm wondering if the display is quick-changeable...can you use it for x axis first, then change leads and use it for y axis??? That would cut down the number of heads/displays...Or will the display show all three axes at once??? Edit: Oh, I see what you did...You have three displays on a 'gang' mount...Clever... Thanks for any help you can give!!!
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04-29-2013, 11:21 PM | #9 | |
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The only difficult part about installing them is to figure out where to put them, and I'm not sure where that would be on the 3-in-1. I have yet to figure out where to put them on the lathe, it's a fairly good size mini lathe (an 8x14 Emco Compact 8), but it will still be a tight fit. I would definitely try and put it on x, y and z, and one on the tailstock would also be good. I'm going to try modified digital calipers on my tailstock though, I think it will make for a cleaner and more compact installation. One good thing about these DROs is that they have separate displays. I believe Shars and others sells a similar setup but with 3 displays in one unit, but that probably means that you have to buy a whole new setup if something breaks. There's also DROs with the readouts directly on the readers (like on digital calipers), but the remote displays are much better as they can be put in a place where you can read them easily. The cross slide might be another story though, on that you may want to go with a direct readout so you don't get the cable tangled up in something. The cables may look like they would be in the way on the mill, but they're really not. And knock on wood, I havent damaged them yet, just make sure they are out of the way so they don't get pinched when you're cranking the table. Other than that it's pretty self-explanatory, once you get them out of the box you'll see how simple they really are. You'll get some universal brackets, screws etc but you'll still have to fabricate brackets, spacers etc to fit on your machine. Just make sure that they are mounted straight and square so the readers slide smoothly without rubbing or binding, and they should work just fine. I can usually cut well within 1/1000" and the repeatability is within the same range, so I'm more than happy with them. If you shoot me a PM with your e-mail, I can send you more pictures to give you some ideas. |
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04-30-2013, 08:27 AM | #10 |
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By the way, you might be interested in my "redneck power feed" as well. Using the jam nuts on the hand wheels to adjust the backlash is a pretty dicey proposition, so I replaced them with with extension nuts and set screws. After doing that, I realized that a cordless power drill with a socket would make for a handy power feed, just put it on the nut and let your sensitive trigger finger do the cranking. You'd think that the nuts would come off when running in reverse, but even though I have my gibs set pretty tight, the nuts still won't budge as long as the set screws are tightened real good. Simple, but very functional, so now I always keep a small power drill laying there next to the mill.
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04-30-2013, 02:24 PM | #11 |
Lifer
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I'm not convinced they'd be worth my time...If I'm milling, I only have about the width of the table in travel...And turning anything long (like a rifle barrel) I can eyeball until I get close and then run it in by hand...My cheapo machine has [variable] x & y axis feed, so I don't need the power drill feed...Although if I could run the drill slow enough, it might be good for tapering pistol barrels (running the toolpost feed to make my taper)...
I do see why Travers DROs are ~$799; they're self contained. No problem with chip or fluid contamination. I could easily mount the 35" DRO on the backside of the 3in1 lathe frame; the 12" crossfeed DRO would have to go on the left (gib locks are on the right)...Have to see what comes up in the future as to what benefit DROs would be to me... Thanks for the pics, ideas, and insights!!!
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04-30-2013, 04:56 PM | #12 | |
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04-30-2013, 05:59 PM | #13 | |
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I just finished replacing the parking brake cable on my Xterra; next up is replacing the timing belt and/or the rusted out rear bumper...I'm looking to see if Sears (I have their charge card) has a needle scaler to chip the rust off my trailer hitch/receiver...Then I can paint it and mount the new bumper (which I primed and will finish paint later this week)... DROs will have to wait...
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05-02-2013, 10:33 AM | #14 |
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I must have been tired when I read it, so I missed that part. Are you saying that you can cut a taper by running the x and y feed simultaneously, kind of like what a CNC would do? I don't have to cut tapers very often (fortunately), but when I do I have to either offset the tailstock, or use the compound for steeper and shorter tapers.
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05-02-2013, 12:25 PM | #15 | |
Lifer
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But I've mused about hooking up a motor & cog belt to run it. A 5" taper Luger barrel takes quite a bit of time; my cheapo motor doesn't have the grunt to take off more than .015" of steel at a time...
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05-02-2013, 01:00 PM | #16 | |
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I'm not sure if you can contol a motor precisely enough to cut tapers, seems like you need something pretty advanced to make the compound screw run perfectly syncronized with the lead screw. A stepper motor controlled by a reader on the lead screw would be one solution, but then you're pretty much half way to CNC. You could, of course, use a half nut, a change gear arrangement, a spider gear, cog belt etc to do it mechanically, but this would be an engineering nightmare. And .015" doesn't sound too bad, I usually try and stay under .010" (using HSS cutters). I can cut more than that, but it will get pretty darn hot at the RPMs I like to use. I just love getting whipped by a hot wad of swarf when it gets wound up and thrown at me. |
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05-02-2013, 05:38 PM | #17 | |||
Lifer
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Three inches.
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Here's one for you...I have a replacement engine for my infamous riding lawn mower; it has an exhaust pipe with a 1" male pipe thread for the muffler...The threads are all rusty, I can't get the new muffler on...It's a tight 90º bend, how do I chase the threads??? It won't unscrew without breaking the cast iron cylinder (don't ask me how I know) and there's not enough room for a conventional pipe threader... Anyone have any ideas???
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05-02-2013, 08:35 PM | #18 | ||
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05-02-2013, 09:42 PM | #19 |
Lifer
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I may do that...Travers does have a hexagonal 1" pipe die, but my last order just came (#2 MT reamer!) and I don't really need anything else right now...I do need to make a trip to Sears, maybe they have one...I could probably rent one of those ratcheting pipe threaders from a rent-all place...Throw the engine in the back of the Xterra...Heh..."How much to rent a 1" pipe threader for 5 minutes?"...
Take longer to fill out the paperwork than chase the threads...
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05-03-2013, 08:31 AM | #20 | |
Twice a Lifer
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