Replies

1. 
   UncleDunc | Apr 22, 2004 11:11am | #1

   >> ... something maybe like a large pencil sharpener.

   That sounds exciting! How fast do you turn a workpiece that size?

   How about a flat table that you could bolt or clamp to the bed, with an adjustable fence on it. Mount your turning tool on a block of wood and slide it up and down the table. When the tool runs against the fence the full length of the workpiece, you've got your taper. Replace the turning tool with a rounter and you can run the lathe as slow as you like.

   If the position of the table on the bed is highly repeatable, you might not need to make the fence adjustable.

1. 
   PlaneWood | Apr 22, 2004 06:45pm | #2

   Duh!  Your just said the obvious.  I have mental lapses occasionally!

   I wonder what the angle is on a #2 taper?  I guess some simple math is in order.

   Thanks!

   PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)PlaneWood

1. 
   CharlieD | Apr 22, 2004 07:53pm | #3

   How about if you put a T-bevel on both sides of an M2 taper, like your live center, and bisect the angle with a compass? That might give it to you. I've been thinking of doing the exact same operation to make a holder for elk antlers; I've been turning antler into guitar slides; they're kinda hard to hold, cause the center isn't solid.

   Charlie

   I tell you, we are here to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different. --K Vonnegut

2. 
   UncleDunc | Apr 22, 2004 09:41pm | #4

   According to Machinery's Handbook, Morse taper #2 is 0.04995" per inch. The included angle is 2.8595 degrees and the half angle is 1.4298 degrees.

2. 
   Tao | Apr 22, 2004 10:15pm | #5

   Yes you can make something like a manual pencil sharpener for cutting tapers.  I have a similar tool for tapering violin pegs, and I made another similar tool years ago.  The tricky part is making the hole.  If you could get access to a morse taper reamer it would help, or you could make a tool fairly easily.out of doweling and sandpaper.

   As I recall, I made several attempts to find the right alignment of the blade, but it wasn't too tough. 

   Michael R

3. 
   JohnWW | Apr 23, 2004 12:51am | #6

   Mike,

   In a machinist's catalog you will find an item called a Morse taper fitted socket.  They have a Morse taper male shank on one end and a Morse taper female socket on the other end, they're about 7 inches long.  One with a #2 taper on both ends cost's about $9.00 in the MSC catalog. 

   If you bought an unhardened one you could use a hacksaw to cut away a quarter section down the side of the female end to create a tool that would work like a pencil sharpener.  In use, you would mount the tool with the male end in your lathe's tailstock and feed the female end into the roughly turned oak shank being spun by the headstock.  Seems like it would work.  For occasional use it wouldn't have to be hardened since it would only be taking a clean up cut.  You could also probably figure out how to line one with sandpaper for final finishing.

   You can find MSC on line at mscdirect.com, the part number is 00186221, costs $8.78.  A good company to deal with, orders often arrive the next day.

   John W.