how do you create a taper on a metal lathe?

There are 3 basic ways. For short or steep tapers, you can use the compound rest. Hard to get accurate tapers this way and you have to hand feed so its harder to get an even finish. Second is to use a taper attachment on your lathe. But they are expensive and not all lathes come with them. They take a while to set-up but once set can be used over and over for multiple parts. Third is the tailstock set over method. The work must be mounted between centers using a drive dog. The limitations of this are that the tailstock can only be moved a relatively small amount so it is good for fairly small tapers. Here is a link to various taper turning methods. Goto page 7-36 thru

Everything machineman said, plus a duplicator (hydraulic or mechanical) can be employed. They used to be fairly common. CNC machines are programmed to do it as well, and have, for the most part, replaced the duplicators (tracers).

Harold

Move the tail stock over

Gunner

"Considering the events of recent years, the world has a long way to go to regain its credibility and reputation with the US." unknown

And don't forget the natural method that us with worn out lathes use. Make a cut and hope that the wear in the machine produces the taper we desire. In fact we have to work hard to get a piece out without a taper ;) lg no neat sig line

Machineman...Great link, thanks for posting it.

A bit butcherous, but certainly simple.

Yeah, me, too!

Harold

And in the early days..the only way.

Actually its quite accurate and works well assuming you set up properly, and only requires the minimal tooling

Gunner

"Considering the events of recent years, the world has a long way to go to regain its credibility and reputation with the US." unknown

Bearing in mind two factors:

2) It is sensitive to length of workpiece. If you have a batch of workpieces of the same precise length between centers (including the depth of the center holes), you will get repeatable tapers. However, if the length varies, the angle will also vary, unless you spend a lot of time setting up each one separately.

Note that for *some* lathes (e.g. the Unimat SL-1000), a short workpiece can be taper turned by rotating the headstock to the proper angle. Obviously, you don't get support from a tailstock center in this case, so the length is quite limited, but it does work.

You could turn between centers with the Unimat SL-1000 by offsetting the head (by rotating it as above), but it makes the angle of the headstock taper to the center hole rather extreme (perhaps three or four times the angle desired at a minimum). Offsetting the tailstock is a more gentle approach -- but the Unimat SL-1000 did not provide for this option.

Other than this, other answers have already covered everything that *I* can think of, so I'll stop typing now.

Enjoy, DoN.

But wasnt the thread about turning tapers on a lathe? This toy thing while interesting..is hardly germane.

Gunner, ducking and running

"Considering the events of recent years, the world has a long way to go to regain its credibility and reputation with the US." unknown