On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 22:46:19 -0600, "Robert Swinney"
wrote:

I've been practicing boring a MT #1 with the compound on my Sherline lathe.
The results, after 4 tries are pretty dismal to say the least.
The compound was set against a standard MT by feeling the taper and setting
it for constant drag on a piece of paper, through the length of taper. The
material is 12 L 14. Each attempt resulted in a taper alright, and one that
would lock, but there would be a lot of runout depending on how carefully I
positioned a test taper in the new socket. It appears the taper (socket) is
a loose fit on the small end. I expect the taper male to fit solidly in the
socket and be automatically aligned straight with just a tap from a plastic
hammer. Not the case. Any suggestionss - please. Is there a better way
than "feeling up" an accurate standard taper, like I'm doing. So far I
haven't tried the chalk or layout blue method of determining fit. The throw
is so short that there is only a very small window of adjustment on a MT #1.

Bob Swinney

Your standard MT may not hve been aligned well with the spindle, and
I would prefer using a test indicator to feeling drag on a bit of
paper.

I would use a piece of cylindrical stock and set the compound with a
test indicator so it shows the right taper for MT#1 which is .04988"
(diameter) per axial inch. This has worked for me.

Boring tools do spring some, so you need to make finish passes
without increasing the cut until you get a pass that removes no
material. A sharp HSS bit works a lot better than carbide here.