On Mon, 28 Mar 2005 11:31:49 -0400, Shawn Wilson
wrote:

I have an old woodworking lathe with a 3/8" fine thread tailstock spindle
instead of a taper. I bought a Morse tapered live center, knocked the taper out
of the bearing and turned down a 3/8" fine thread nut to fit inside the
bearing. There were 2 problems with this:
1) in order to fit, I could only turn down the sharp edges of the nut - I'd
prefer it was round for a better fit.
2) the bearing is as deep as the nut, which means the live center has to come
off the nut so I can unscrew the nut from the tailstock with pliers. I'd rather
have a longer nut and only turn down half, leaving the other half accessable to
a wrench.

Do they make 3/8 fine thread long nuts (I think they're also called couplers?)
and/or do they make 3/8 fine thread nuts with wider diameters? If so, where
would be the best place to find them? I've tried an industial supply store as
well as the local Home Depot/Canadian Tire/Kent/Home Hardware.

If I can't find them, it was suggested I get a piece of hex stock, drill and tap
it, then turn it down. Where would I find small amounts of hex stock?

Thanks,
Shawn
Much better to get a chunk of hex stock the size you want, turn it to
fit the center, and drill and tap to fit the spindle