Lathe Taper Attachment the easy way

[jjr2001]

I needed to make up some morse #2 and #3 tools so of course you must first make the tool to make the tools.
This is a simplified copy of one I saw on line (possibly here). I used an oil lite bushing for the main bearing shaft to ride in. The center pivot is a shoulderd cap screw. Everything else is 1018. You can see the main support bar is quite long and has several attachment holes in it so I can position it around the back or front of the tailstock. I usually use a known morse taper to set up the attachment on the lathe. Adjustment block can be positioned left or right of center and adjusted with the long screw and knob that was in the junk box. A 1018 bar on each end is used to clamp the device to the lathe bed. The last photo is of a few spare tool blanks that I have not used yet. I made all of my MT blanks with hot rolled steel.

Cheers, JR