Don't know how old your lathe is. My old craftsman lathe was built in the
late 30s and has a #2 Morse taper..

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
...
In article , woodslave
wrote:
I'm new to woodworking and particularly turning. I recently purchased
an old craftsman lathe with a good motor. It is missing the pointed piece
that actually holds the tail end of the wood on the tailstock. I have
checked the sears website and the part or parts that were originally used
for that have been discontinued. I was thinking about having one made at a
local machine shop. I think I need just a circular point welded to a nut
that threads onto the tailstock assembly. Is there a certain angle I
should use for the point? I'm thinking about 60 degrees would be OK.
Better yet is there somewhere else I can get this item or something else I
can use inplace of it?

Unless the lathe is some particularly bizarre design, you should be able
to
use pretty nearly any spur center or live center that has the appropriate
taper to fit into your tailstock -- probably a #1 Morse taper (1MT).

Try posting in rec.crafts.woodturning and you'll probably get a lot more
response than you will here.