"Bob Engelhardt" wrote in message
...
A taper pin is so much more work to use - is it that much better than a
split pin (aka spring pin)? Or, putting it another way, in what
circumstances would a split/spring pin be inadequate and a taper pin be
required?

Thanks,
Bob

Roll pins (spring pins) are made to keep things from falling apart. Taper
pins are made for precisely locating parts relative to each other.

For example, a roll pin might be used to hold a flexible joint onto a shaft.
A taper pin (or pairs of them, actually) might be used to locate the
sections of a multi-part stamping die on a common die plate.

There has been some inappropriate use of taper pins in the past. Today,
there is some inappropriate use of roll pins. Roll pins flex and have
limited ability to locate. But their shear strength is adequate for many
jobs that formerly depended upon straight pins.

To get the big picture, you have to consider four kinds of pins. Straight
pins are used like roll pins, only they're capable of handling much greater
shear loads. They might be used to hold a drill chuck onto a spindle, in a
light-duty application. To keep the pin from falling out and to prevent
backlash, the pin might be a press fit into its hole.

A roll pin is a cheaper way to accomplish the same thing, with much less
shear strength but with an easier press fit. They've replaced straight pins
in many production applications.

A taper pin should not be used to hold things together, without some kind of
clamping or other locating to hold them in place. A screw tapped alongside
of the head of the taper pin, with the screw head overlapping the edge of
the pin, is one way to accomplish this. In much tool work, the pins are not
subject to strong shear loads so they may hold without a clamp. But they can
slip out of their holes without a clamp.

The fourth kind of pin is just a further illustration of what the taper pin
is about. It's a tapered diamond pin. It only contacts the work along two
lines, rather than a long the sides of a cone. It's used only for
super-precision locating in gage work, and in making master tooling that's
used only to qualify the production tooling. The idea is that you can't get
perfect contact on each of any pair of tapered pins, but you can locate one
tapered pin perfectly and then restrain motion relative to that pin by
locking the part along two lines that lie on the radius of an arc from the
tapered pin.

I know, following that in words -- or my words -- can give you a headache.
g If it's important, I'll try again. But the point is that there are two
ends of the scale in terms of locating precision, and roll pins are at the
low end. But roll pins stay in place and do the job well when all that's
required is to keep parts from slipping apart.

--
Ed Huntress