I am trying to cut a morse taper shaft 3MT and 2MT and have setup the
topslide to what I thought was the correct angle, but he taper seems
slightly off. Is there any one who has turned a morse taper, that can
offer advice??. I know that morse taper reamers are available for
making or tidying up MT sockets, is there anything for finish cutting
MT shafts????.

Cheers

wrote:
I am trying to cut a morse taper shaft 3MT and 2MT and have setup the
topslide to what I thought was the correct angle, but he taper seems
slightly off.

Well, I've only done it once, but it worked.
A socket, or quill or whatever has the MT size you want can be used as a
gauge. Mark some lines with a marker pen along the piece you've turned,
then fit the socket and twist. Note where the marks rub off, adjust and
take more cuts until it's right.
Might be easier to do between centres, tailstock offset, so you can use
auto-feed.

Jordan

On Tue, 5 Feb 2008 16:26:34 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

I am trying to cut a morse taper shaft 3MT and 2MT and have setup the
topslide to what I thought was the correct angle, but he taper seems
slightly off. Is there any one who has turned a morse taper, that can
offer advice??. I know that morse taper reamers are available for
making or tidying up MT sockets, is there anything for finish cutting
MT shafts????.

Cheers


Not too difficult to do using the crosslide.

Mount between centers a sample
of whatever taper your'e copying. Next dial crosslide to sample
using DI on toolpost. Remove sample and chuck up bar stock to be
turned. Turn to spec. ED

wrote:
I am trying to cut a morse taper shaft 3MT and 2MT and have setup the
topslide to what I thought was the correct angle, but he taper seems
slightly off. Is there any one who has turned a morse taper, that can
offer advice??. I know that morse taper reamers are available for
making or tidying up MT sockets, is there anything for finish cutting
MT shafts????.
Those degree marks on the compound swivel are about 100 times
too coarse for this operation. You need a Morse taper something
that you can use as an angle reference. If the spindle uses the
same Morse taper, you can follow that with a dial indicator to
make finer adjustments. If not, then you need to use spotting
blue dye and fit the part to a known good taper and see which
end is too small. Then you adjust and try again. When you get
real close, then switching to a grinding tool like a toolpost
grinder, or even a Dremel, is the best to get a good finish.

Jon

"ED" wrote in message
news
On Tue, 5 Feb 2008 16:26:34 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

I am trying to cut a morse taper shaft 3MT and 2MT and have setup the
topslide to what I thought was the correct angle, but he taper seems
slightly off. Is there any one who has turned a morse taper, that can
offer advice??. I know that morse taper reamers are available for
making or tidying up MT sockets, is there anything for finish cutting
MT shafts????.

Cheers


Not too difficult to do using the crosslide.

Mount between centers a sample
of whatever taper your'e copying. Next dial crosslide to sample
using DI on toolpost. Remove sample and chuck up bar stock to be
turned. Turn to spec. ED


Keeping the indicator and the cutting tool exactly at center height is
important in duplicating a taper. Exact center height for the tool is also
important when using the compound or tailstock offset. I only understood
exactly why when I imagined setting the tool height at the bottom of the
shaft and trying to cut an accurate taper!!

Don Young

On Feb 5, 7:26*pm, wrote:
I am trying to cut a morse taper shaft 3MT and 2MT and have setup the
topslide to what I thought was the correct angle, but he taper seems
slightly off. Is there any one who has turned a morse taper, that can
offer advice??. I know that morse taper reamers are available for
making or tidying up MT sockets, is there anything for finish cutting
MT shafts????.

Cheers

There is nothing I've ever heard of for reaming or cleaning up male
Morse taper. It is handy to have a spare Morse taper socket to use to
test the workpiece with spotting blue - much handier than trying it in
the lathe spindle.

I've turned quite a few Morse tapers. I do them by holding the
workpiece between centers and ofsetting the tailstock. It works
better than angling the compound because you can easily make minor
adjustments to the tailstock offset. It's more difficult to make
minor adjustments to the compound angle.

Some people have used a boring head in the tailstock to hold the dead
center, which I've never tried but sounds good. Use the boring head
to make the offset adjustments.

One thing to keep in mind when turning a shallow taper like this is
that a very small change in diameter makes a big difference in how
deep the taper goes into its socket. It's easy to go too far.

While skilled machinists frown at the use of files to bring parts to
final size, I think it's a valid way to make very minor final
adjustments to a taper.

John Martin

On Tue, 5 Feb 2008 21:34:17 -0600, "Don Young"
wrote:


"ED" wrote in message
news
On Tue, 5 Feb 2008 16:26:34 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

I am trying to cut a morse taper shaft 3MT and 2MT and have setup the
topslide to what I thought was the correct angle, but he taper seems
slightly off. Is there any one who has turned a morse taper, that can
offer advice??. I know that morse taper reamers are available for
making or tidying up MT sockets, is there anything for finish cutting
MT shafts????.

Cheers


Not too difficult to do using the crosslide.

Mount between centers a sample
of whatever taper your'e copying. Next dial crosslide to sample
using DI on toolpost. Remove sample and chuck up bar stock to be
turned. Turn to spec. ED


Keeping the indicator and the cutting tool exactly at center height is
important in duplicating a taper. Exact center height for the tool is also
important when using the compound or tailstock offset. I only understood
exactly why when I imagined setting the tool height at the bottom of the
shaft and trying to cut an accurate taper!!

Don Young


Jeese I ment to say compound not crosslide.
Anyway..

With a QC tool post setup you can get real close
just by setting the tool post block against the MT
sample, flush. Then its just a matter of final tuning with DI.
which is usually just a few thou off. The only real drawback is the
lack of reach of the compound which makes it a two part
deal. Blending the two cuts requires a bit of finess..
I think this is in one of the machinist bedside books..
ED

On Feb 5, 4:26 pm, wrote:
I am trying to cut a morse taper shaft 3MT and 2MT and have setup the
topslide to what I thought was the correct angle, but he taper seems
slightly off. Is there any one who has turned a morse taper, that can
offer advice??. I know that morse taper reamers are available for
making or tidying up MT sockets, is there anything for finish cutting
MT shafts????.

Cheers

Take a MT arbor or shank (a clean, accurate one, like a hardened
center or a sleeve or drill chuck shank) and put it between centers.
Put it between centers and put an indicator in the toolpost. Run it
back and forth, adjusting the topslide angle until it is 0-0 all the
way along. You can't get it accurate enough with the markings on the
topslide alone. This is the way to cut any taper extremely accurately
with the topslide or a taper attachment. You can also get MT plug
gages for testing the finished shaft, but you shouldn't need it with
this method.

Depending on what you are making, you can also get MT blank arbors
with a precision hardened and ground shank and a soft arbor section at
the end that can be machined to your specifications. Many people use
them for making special tools and fixtures.

On Tue, 5 Feb 2008 19:56:47 -0800 (PST), John Martin
wrote:

On Feb 5, 7:26*pm, wrote:
I am trying to cut a morse taper shaft 3MT and 2MT and have setup the
topslide to what I thought was the correct angle, but he taper seems
slightly off. Is there any one who has turned a morse taper, that can
offer advice??. I know that morse taper reamers are available for
making or tidying up MT sockets, is there anything for finish cutting
MT shafts????.

Cheers

There is nothing I've ever heard of for reaming or cleaning up male
Morse taper. It is handy to have a spare Morse taper socket to use to
test the workpiece with spotting blue - much handier than trying it in
the lathe spindle.

I've turned quite a few Morse tapers. I do them by holding the
workpiece between centers and ofsetting the tailstock. It works
better than angling the compound because you can easily make minor
adjustments to the tailstock offset. It's more difficult to make
minor adjustments to the compound angle.

Some people have used a boring head in the tailstock to hold the dead
center, which I've never tried but sounds good. Use the boring head
to make the offset adjustments.

One thing to keep in mind when turning a shallow taper like this is
that a very small change in diameter makes a big difference in how
deep the taper goes into its socket. It's easy to go too far.

While skilled machinists frown at the use of files to bring parts to
final size, I think it's a valid way to make very minor final
adjustments to a taper.

John Martin
I did a few 2MT by offsetting the tail stock. When I did, I cut my
stock somewhat longer than twice the required length and ensured that
they were countersunk such that all the pieces were the same length.
Once I hit it right, it became production work.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada

On 2008-02-06, wrote:
I am trying to cut a morse taper shaft 3MT and 2MT and have setup the
topslide to what I thought was the correct angle, but he taper seems
slightly off. Is there any one who has turned a morse taper, that can
offer advice??.

I've not done it with the compound (topslide), but rather with a
taper attachment.

However, the first thing which comes to mind is to ask whether
you have the angle of the compound set to the specified angle for the
Morse taper, instead of to half of it, since the angle is reflected on
the other side of the workpiece.

Also -- it is very difficult to set a compound to the degree of
precision needed to get a really good Morse taper. I had enough trouble
setting the taper attachment, which has a much finer graduation on the
scales. That just gets you sort of close. After that, you have to
measure how far in and out the tool moves for a given distance along the
axis of the workpiece. (And this is a lot easier to measure with a
taper attachment than with the compound.)

And to check the results, you need "Hi-Spot" or some other
bluing (Prussian blue in oil) and a female Morse taper gauge. (I've so
far managed to get a set for MT-1, MT-2 and MT-3, plus a female gauge
only for MT-4.)

I know that morse taper reamers are available for
making or tidying up MT sockets, is there anything for finish cutting
MT shafts????.

A toolpost grinder, once your taper attachment is set really
right. (And protect the ways from the grinding swarf, as it will kill
the machine if not protected.)

Good Luck,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

wrote:

I am trying to cut a morse taper shaft 3MT and 2MT and have setup the
topslide to what I thought was the correct angle, but he taper seems
slightly off. Is there any one who has turned a morse taper, that can
offer advice??. I know that morse taper reamers are available for
making or tidying up MT sockets, is there anything for finish cutting
MT shafts????.

Cheers

Use a center. Tool must be on centerline. Indicate a good MT to set
compound. Must indicate on centerline.

Get some prussian blue to use to check fit. Adjust angle if required.

Wes

On 2008-02-06, John Martin wrote:
On Feb 5, 7:26*pm, wrote:
I am trying to cut a morse taper shaft 3MT and 2MT and have setup the
topslide to what I thought was the correct angle, but he taper seems
slightly off. Is there any one who has turned a morse taper, that can
offer advice??. I know that morse taper reamers are available for
making or tidying up MT sockets, is there anything for finish cutting
MT shafts????.

Cheers

There is nothing I've ever heard of for reaming or cleaning up male
Morse taper. It is handy to have a spare Morse taper socket to use to
test the workpiece with spotting blue - much handier than trying it in
the lathe spindle.

I've turned quite a few Morse tapers. I do them by holding the
workpiece between centers and ofsetting the tailstock. It works
better than angling the compound because you can easily make minor
adjustments to the tailstock offset. It's more difficult to make
minor adjustments to the compound angle.

The one problem with it is that it is also very sensitive to
workpiece length (between centers). This means that you can't simply
put a known good taper (say a male taper gauge) between centers, set the
offset and then swap in your workpiece. This will work only if the
workpiece is *precisely* the same distance between centers as the
reference. (And it is even difficult to set up to precisely measure the
distance between the center holes on the two items.)

Enjoy,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

You can check the taper by clamping another one beside it but
reversed. When the tapers are identical the outer edges will be
parallel.

Jim Wilkins