Morse taper tang

[Bony]

Thanks for your comments Frank.

The only lathe I've owned that hasn't had a tang receiver at the end of the tailstock is what I now find a small lathe, the extremely versatile Myford Super Seven. I've owned it since new, now over 40 years ago, it's a very nice lathe and my only gripe is that the MT2 of the tailstock chuck slips a little when doing very hard work, even when tapped solidly in place to lock the tapers. I really wish it would lock into a tang receiver.

The headstock on my largest lathe is 5MT, and the tailstock MT3, into which the tang on the end locks into a slotted retainer to prevent any slippage on the taper. I use ER30 and ER40 collet holders to hold annular cutters in the tailstock for drilling holes up to 50mm in diameter so the taper has to lock VERY firmly into the tailstock. This is when a tang is REALLY needed. My drill press uses MT4 and tooling for that also needs a tang on the end, and not just for removal.

My mill takes NT30 tooling and I occasionally use an MT3 adapter which takes the tang to hold things such a boring head.

I haven't had any problems with tapers binding or my screw in tangs needing to be hardened because to release the taper from the tailstock you simply need only wind the tailstock back and the MT3 tooling pops out. If the tapers have gripped firmly the handle may need to be wound back using some force, but it always releases without difficulty.

Bony