Subject: Question concerning tapers to degrees
From: Ken Sterling
Date: 04/03/04 22:05 GMT Standard Time
Message-id: m

Ken wrote:
Gang,
Recently had to bore a taper (for a homemade battery terminal I'm
making for an auto battery) and got involved in trying to determine
the angle (in degrees) that I would have to set the compound on my
lathe.
In looking through the Machinery Handbook, "Rule: Divide the taper in
inches per foot by 24, find the angle corresponding to the quotient,
in a table of tangents, and double this angle". Example : taper of
1-1/2 inches per foot, divided by 24 = .0625. The angle whose tangent
is .0625 = 3 degrees 35 minutes nearly, then 3 degrees 35 minutes
multiplied by 2 results in 7 degrees 10 minutes.
Now, I realize the last part (multiplying by two) is dropped for
turning on the lathe as I don't need the included angle - only the
angle from the centerline of the part.... but my question is "Who
came up with the number _24_ ? ? Is this some mystical number that

1/2 '/"
I'm sorry - I must really be dense (plus I never had higher math) but
I'm just not getting it.....I had a little algebra, no trig, no
geometry and no calc....so maybe I just need to do a little studying
to understand.... Please forgive my ignorance.

There are 12 inches in a foot. Dividing a taper expressed in inches per foot
(included angle) will give you taper in inches per inch (included angle). But
you want half of this for the compound on your lathe as it generates the
included angle automatically. So divide by two again. 2 x 12 = 24.

Now you have the taper in inches per inch from the centreline (half the
included taper).

Now you can apply your trig to turn this taper into degrees using tangents.

There's no magic about the number 24. It's just twice the number of inches in a
foot.

If you had a taper expressed in mm per metre your magic number would be 2000.

If you had a taper expressed in barleycorns per inch your magic number would be
6.

If you had a taper expressed in feet per fathom your magic number would be 12.

If you had a taper expressed in furlongs per mile your magic number would be
16.

Shall I continue


Dave Baker - Puma Race Engines (www.pumaracing.co.uk)
I'm not at all sure why women like men. We're argumentative, childish,
unsociable and extremely unappealing naked. I'm quite grateful they do though.
THANK YOU!!!! This explanation made more sense to me... I appreciate
your efforts.
Ken.