morse tapers

Seems the Shopsmith solution might work. Buy the plain insert, have it bored to fit the shaft and crossbored/tapped for a setscrew.

Heck, if you have a 5/8 shaft, just get the insert for Shopsmith.

Maybe thone of these?

dusty> Hi,

Go to someplace like Kitts, J & L or Production Tool and get a MT 2 arbor. Machine shops use shanks like this frequently.

Bill

"dustyone" wrote: (clip)does a morse taper exist, which comes out to a threaded section, onto which I could screw a chuck? (clip) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ It would be risky to try that. The weight of a chuck, plus the wood would put a side load on the Morse taper that would probably make it loosen. Add to that the possibility of a catch twisting the taper.

The "Shopsmith" solution is probably your best bet. Don't invest too much in this. My guess is you will be upgrading to a better lathe within a year. So, if you buy a chuck, make sure it has a replaceable insert.

MT arbours are available ready threaded for a chuck at one end, but also threaded for a draw bar which then goes through the head stock to a retaining nut on the other side of it from the chuck. They are in the region of £5 - £10 on EbayUK, which is about $9 - $18, plus the cost of a bit of allthread and a nut for the drawbar. This would stop the chuck and arbour working loose from the MT socket. Look in the general lathe secion, rather than the woodturning one though.

Tony Wells.

I agree with Leo.

This might a good place to suggest an old dodge re headstocks & Morse tapers. Some cheaper lathe 1X8 spindles with #2MT don't have much meat to prevent being deformed by a catch on a heavy blank. Like the old ad that "motor oil is motor oil" being risky, so is the proposition that "spindle steel is spindle steel".

As usual, I digress and meant to suggest inserting a #2MT plug to strengthen the spindle when turning a heavy blank on a faceplate. The plug can be cobbled from a worn out drill bit with MT shaft, usually free for the asking, if accompanied with a small turning, at local machine shops.

HTH (hope this helps)

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter