why is there a morse taper in the back end of my lathe spindle

I'd be inclined to think that the taper is provided for the use of attachments, perhaps a collet closing device. It would keep the mechanism central to the spindle.

Nothing wrong with honing the bore, but I think you'll find it's slow going. Worth the effort if it will increase the possibility to insert larger material, however. Luck with that idea!

Harold

As I do not have a 24" long boring bar to fit a 2" bore, I see no other choices. Coarse stones and run coolant thru to keep the stones clean and cutting.

I would think a nice straight bore would work for a collet closer. One of those is on my list too (lever style). Unless I dump this silly Italian lathe first. But then again I've had it almost 20 years.

Thank You, Randy

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For installing Cat Heads and all manner of other goodies. Its a rather good idea actually.

Rule #35 "That which does not kill you, has made a huge tactical error"

Sounds like it'd be pretty simple to cobble together some kind of bar with a bit in it, and make an over-arm attachment out of angle iron for the rig so it would be plenty stiff.

Might be quicker overall than honing.

Just the heads? How does that work? Do you just stick them in there and turn on the spindle till the stop squirming? :)

I once tried to get the entire cat in. Doesn't work. :-)

Harold

Like maybe a dead center for turning things "between centers". You'd still need a faceplate or some means for driving a "dog". I wonder how the "dog" and "cat" would get along. Randy

Historically, not great, but there are exceptions. :-)

Harold

Cat head? I know of no goodies that go in the back of a lathe, that's why I asked. I know metal spinning lathes have stuff on the back.

Thank You, Randy

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============================ Some of the larger "oil patch" lathes have a chuck on each end of the spindle as standard to better control long work pieces such as pipe.

This can also be a help when turning long slender items through the spindle such as barrels on smaller lathes. Either "the home shop machinist" or "the machinists work bench" had an article on making an outboard chuck using 3 screws to center/support the workpiece for the smaller home/hobby lathes.

A finished end will also provide a good seat for a "drawbar" when using MT endmill holders for lathe milling.

Unka' George (George McDuffee) .............................. Only in Britain could it be thought a defect to be "too clever by half." The probability is that too many people are too stupid by three-quarters.

John Major (b. 1943), British Conservative politician, prime minister. Quoted in: Observer (London, 7 July 1991).

Try cutting it into smaller pieces. :)

I should have thought of that. As an added bonus, they tamp down better that way. Stops coolant from running out the backside.

Stops coolant from running out the backside.

Yea, I really hate it when coolant runs out my backside.

:)

I avoid tamping them in that hole. I'm alergic to cats. :-)

I'm not going to win am I?

What kind of reaction did you have? :)

Chuckle!

Depends on the cat, really. Some have little, if any, effect. Others give me a serious case of asthma, and everything in between can happen. I get itchy eyes, swollen eyes, runny nose, and when it's really bad, I have difficulty breathing. If they lick me, I often have a skin reaction as well.

In general, I don't like the little bastards, although I'm stupid enough to save one when it's in trouble. Susan found one in the yard three years ago, a kitten, almost frozen to death. Susan brought it in and tried to help it. I grabbed a hair dryer and warmed it up quickly-----and it worked. It was lapping up mild a short time later, and there was almost no sign of life when she brought it in. Then we were stuck with the damned cat. Luckily, a neighbor was "in the market" for one, so she took it from us. Didn't take long for it to wear out its welcome.

Harold

Harold and Susan Vordos wrote: ..........Susan brought it in and tried to help

Reminds me of the time my son had some gerbils. They kept him awake at night so he put them in his closet, upstairs, in Winter. The next day one was dead and the other nearly. We had an old sock filled with rice that you ere supposed to heat up in the microwave and wear around your neck for pain relief. I heated it up and curled it into a little "nest" and inserted the gerbil. Yep, in a few minutes he was lively again. I think now that we should have tried it on the "dead" one, too, instead of burying it so quickly. :) Randy

Those little critters are pretty tough, so it very well may have still had life left. Susan told me that she sort of nudged the kitten with her toe, thinking it was dead, and only then did it display the slightest sign of life. Sure makes you feel bad when you could do something to save them and you don't.

I chuckled at my typo-------the kitten was lapping up *milk*, but it, too, may have been *mild*.

Oh yeah, I know that alergic should really be allergic. Damned fingers.

After a fairly hard day of hammering hot iron, I sometimes like to chill with a good drink.

Had a cat that decided to take a nip out of a jigger of scotch. It burned her mouth a bit and she took off running and howling.

My wife asked me what I'd done to the cat. So I told her what had happened.

At which time she told me she'd be really angry at me if I ever tried to get pussy with liquor again!

Sometimes, after 38 years, that woman still surprises me -- and her a pillar of the church too! :)