Bob La Londe wrote:
"Ignoramus23245" wrote in
message news
It is kind of really amazing, how well I can tap on a manual lathe
when I need a concentrically tapped hole. The accuracy and ease of
that cannot possibly be even approached while tapping manually.

To hold the tap, I used Morse tapered tap collets that I horse traded
a while ago. They are made to hold taps with square shanks. See
mcmaster item 2731A49 for example.

It was also nice to slow down the lathe greatly, by changing the
frequency of the VFD.

i

Must be nice to have a good lathe. I tapped something like that the
other day by clamping a tap in the drill chuck for my tail stock and
sliding the tail stuck up against the work piece and holding light
pressure with my hand while bumping the lathe. Forget low speed. LOL.
Click/Click Click/Click Click/Click

Its pretty cool though to try something new and have it work isn't it.

I often do the same thing , but I use the lever on mine to lightly engage
the belt drive . Drop it in back gear and away we go . If it stalls or the
tap slips in the chuck , it's time to back it out and clear the chips .

--
Snag
Learning keeps
you young !