A very short (JT2) project

[jcs0001]

My lathe has an MT4 headstock spindle taper and an MT3 tailstock taper.  I have an offshore chuck on an MT3 arbor for the tailstock and it works quite well.  However I have another chuck, an Almond that I picked up some time ago when I purchased another lathe.  It is a beautiful old chuck mounted on an MT2 arbor.  Unfortunately I have to use an MT3 to MT2 adapter to mount it in the tailstock and it projects quite a bit more than it should.  The extra projection is about 20 mm more than the other chuck.

The Almond chuck sits on a JT2 taper so what I really need is a MT3/JT2 arbor.

I have looked at Busy Bee tools and a local shop however neither carry such an arbor.  I can find them on ebay however with shipping about double the fairly high price of the arbor - I don't need it that bad.

My plan is this:

- order an MT4 to MT3 or a MT4 to MT2 adapter.
- order an MT3 arbor with a soft steel (the JT2 end).  The MT3 part is hardened.

(the mt adapters will always be handy so not a waste)

Place the old MT2 arbor into the spindle of the lathe using one or two adapters to size it up.  Align the compound using the existing JT2 taper, replace it with the arbor blank and machine to a JT2 taper.

It looks like photo bucket is still down so I will put up a few photos once it is up and running.

One question I have is regarding the soft steel that I will make my JT2 taper from - will it be ok to leave it that way?

I have hardened drill rod and other high carbon steel so am not a total novice at that.  I have several small propane/MAP gas torches and it's likely I can heat the end of the arbor red hot however I have no idea if it needs to be plunged into water, oil, blood or other body fluids  

If I attempt to harden it there may be less than favourable effects on the MT3 portion - any ideas appreciated.

Thanks for reading,

John.

[seadog]

I'd leave it as is John. You'll introduce distortion to the arbor if you try hardening and tempering requiring a grinder to clean up the tapers. Usually the steel is tough and suitable for use as is. I made a parallel/JT33 arbor from silver steel for an Albrecht chuck and haven't had any problems with it.

[chipenter]

The tapers are a diferent angle not mutch but enugh , I have reduced a sleeves with a tiped tool for my mill , press the sleeve on to a centre and mount between centres , clock on the sleeve and turn down light cuts and finish with a stone .

[RobWilson]

   John !



Rob 

[jcs0001]

Here are the photos - I suspect Rob won't sleep without them 

The two drill chucks, Almond in the back:



I could cut the end off the MT3 adapter and that would have the chuck further back in the tailstock however that isn't very elegant and I would prefer to get rid of the adapter in this application.

The import in the tailstock as far back as it will go before being released:



Almond chuck in the tailstock - back as far as it will go before being released:



Almond chuck with blank MT3 arbour (soft end next to it):



Thank you Seadog and Chipenter for your advice.  I will likely leave it as is (unhardened).  Will need to work on my lathe tool sharpening skills to get a good finish.  Maybe time to make a "poor man's tool post grinder" with my dremel.

I need to order a few items to complete this so it will be a couple of weeks before I can post a photo or two of the finished product (disaster).

John.

[RobWilson]

I likes photos I do 

Nice one John    , for future reference  http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue/Chucks/Drill-Chuck-Arbors/MT3-Drill-Chuck-Arbors-with-Tang 

Rob

[jcs0001]

Rob

Thanks for the link.  Cannot understand why we can't get a similar item locally (within Canada) anyway.  I need a few other items for the shop (don't we all) so will put in an order locally in a day or two.  Should get it within a week or 10 days I expect and then see if I can get a good surface finish.

John.

[sparky961]

For home shop use without abuse don't worry about hardening. I made an MT3 to JT-something years ago and it runs truer than the commercial ones at my work where they get abused.

[jcs0001]

Not sure what is going on as I posted a reply and it has disappeared into the ether

Anyway, as mentioned in my earlier yet missing post, I had a moderately bad day in the workshop yesterday.  Started by attempting to true a 16 in. wood bandsaw wheel and drove a wood turning chisel into my finger.  The wheel was made up of two layers - one of baltic birch ply and one of some very nice douglas fir ply.  The baltic birch turns nicely but the douglas fir turns like crap - it's hard as nails.  I also determined that my wheel had too much wobble and will have to build another.  At that point I was beginning to wonder if shop work was my forte

My busybeetools package arrived so I thought I'd rescue the day by turning the jt2 taper on the mt3 blank.  I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to get my compound indicated to the right angle.  A variety of things seemed to be working against me and I ended up with it somewhere in the neighbourhood of correct.  The blank end was large so I figured I'd turn it down until I could start to trial fit the end into the chuck.  One positive was that the steel in the blank turns beautifully and my high speed steel cutters worked really well.

Once I got the arbour so that it would fit into the chuck a bit I found that indeed the compound was not accurately set.  A bit of thought and a utube video or two revealed that I could use the barrel of the tailstock as a fixed point and thus turn the compound by very small amounts measured with a magnetic based indicator mounted on the compound (this is likely very basic for most all others on the forum however to me it was a great revelation - almost a religious moment - well not quite).

I also used a felt pen to mark the arbour and was able to get the taper dead on before I ran out of stub.

Here it is in all it's glory:



It fits nicely into the tailstock now with very little hanging out.  I may cut or grind the end off a bit but for now it's very usable.

Thanks,

John.

[sparky961]

Job well done.

Almost all of my serious cuts and bruises to hands have been from hand tools. Although I know they are the source of more injuries than power tools it still happens from time to time.  More recently its a case of the back of my hands on drills in the tailstock or other nearby cutting tools.

[gerritv]

Hi John,
Another local source (local as in no cross border ripoff shipping charges).

http://www.accusizetools.ca/products_details.asp?big=5&small=37&proid=69. http://kbctools.ca also has good pricing and reasonable shipping for many items.

I have a similar situation with my new-to-me KC1022, too many adapters on the tailstock end.

Gerrit

[jcs0001]

Sparky - Thanks.  I've also had a few back of hand incidents on the lathe - my four way tool post is a bit of a contributor.

Gerritv - wasn't aware of that supplier at all.  Will take a look through their site as one always needs a few things.  Thanks for the link.

John.

[sparky961]

I'll second the vote for Accusize.  I've purchased a few items from them, including precision measuring and setup tools, and have been happily surprised by the quality.  I'd rate it as "good" Asian.  They ship very quickly too.  The web site is bad but not horrible.

As for KBC, I find the stuff overpriced for what it is.  The same items can often be found on eBay for much less.  Now, with the exchange rate this may not hold true at the moment.

There's also Travers Tool but I've only browsed the catalogue, never purchased from them.  I suspect they're similar to KBC.