Turning a tailstock quill, how would you do it?

Demon69 · Apr 6, 2018

Hello folks, looking for some views on how youd order and go about things.

The part looks something like this. It also has a keyway running its full length.

Not wanting to make things easy ive aleady bored the tailstock so ive no fitting quill atm

, I could probably turn up a plug that could serve temporary duty :scratchchin:

. I do have a steady, an MT3 hard centre and 3 an 4 jaw chucks. The through hole in the spindle is smaller than the part.
Matrial is EN19T.

Atm im thinking :-
Rough turn OD.
Mount it in the steady and drill the through hole.
Bore the pocket for the nut.
Make some sort of expanding spud to sit in the pocket that I can chuck on.
Flip the part in the steady and bore the MT3 taper.
Make spud for tailstock and drill a centre.
Fit centre to the part and mount between chuck n tailstock.
Indicate it in on the centre as best as and turn the OD.
Machine keyway in the shaper and hope it dont move.

Or something like that

In the same situation how would you do it?
Cheers.

dian · Apr 6, 2018

i would think you need to grind it, od and taper for sure.

Demon69 · Apr 6, 2018

dian said:
i would think you need to grind it, od and taper for sure.

Ive no grinder on line atm dian, and no experience grinding tbh.
Im pretty sure I could turn a nice finish to size and lap if needed, mostly concerned with concentricity, in particular the MT3 socket to OD. The tailstock ill take to a friends to hone the final size.

JRIowa · Apr 6, 2018

Minimum is to ream the MT socket. I'd sure grind the OD.

I can can chuck that up this morning. Bring it on over. You could be here in a few hours with your corporate jet. I'll pick you up at the airport.

I wouldn't need a steady rest so my method would be a lot different than yours.
JR

cyanidekid · Apr 6, 2018

There are shops that specialize in spindle grinding. If you spec something less than “ultra precision” they might be quite reasonable because this is exactly what they do all day long.

I. E., “just send it out” for final grind, but you probably already considered that..

Demon69 · Apr 6, 2018

JRIowa said:
Minimum is to ream the MT socket. I'd sure grind the OD.

I can can chuck that up this morning. Bring it on over. You could be here in a few hours with your corporate jet. I'll pick you up at the airport.

I wouldn't need a steady rest so my method would be a lot different than yours.
JR

Dammit! The jets out for service atm so ive only got the loaner.

Could take a while

Demon69 · Apr 6, 2018

cyanidekid said:
There are shops that specialize in spindle grinding. If you spec something less than “ultra precision” they might be quite reasonable because this is exactly what they do all day long.

I. E., “just send it out” for final grind, but you probably already considered that..

To fair, the same guy with the hone has a churchill crankshaft grinder thatd do it in a blink. If im not happy with I turn out im sure he could finish it up for us.

thermite · Apr 6, 2018

Demon73 said:
To fair, the same guy with the hone has a churchill crankshaft grinder thatd do it in a blink. If im not happy with I turn out im sure he could finish it up for us.

There's your far wiser move.

Ask HIM what to leave for grinding, and on the "slug", still solid.

Cut & deburr the keyway AFTERWARDS, install in TS, use your own lathe to drill the through hole, bore nut-sack, rough, then finish the 3 MT.

Done 100% "in situ" on the lathe & TS as will be running it, countervailing errors converge, you gets an enduringly good fit for that lathe only, but it IS the only one that matters.

All at the price of not TOO damned bad of an extra measure of tedium and f**k-with time to tool-up, clamp, etc.

Some items, fiddle-farting around to go the "hard way" does have a decent pay-off. This - hopefully a once-in-a-lifetime need - could well be one of those.

2CW as I have TWO to do. 10EE's, both. "Eventually".

Limy Sami · Apr 6, 2018

Demon, if you need it, I have a Dormer 3 MT finishing hand reamer which ''could''

be available for loan, .so if you want, PM with your email or phone no' (if the gods are smiling I can read PMs)

DDoug · Apr 6, 2018

How do you feel about a MT-4 ?

Tool Holders, Mill Holders, Collets: Collis Toolholder Iowa

The O.D. and length hit your numbers.

rklopp · Apr 6, 2018

I made my 10EE quill out of ETD-150. I finished the OD before knocking a hole down the middle. I turned it between centers (in my other lathe) very slightly oversize and then lapped it with a cast iron lap to fit the honed bore of the tailstock. After I got it to size, I grabbed one end in a 4-jaw and supported the other end in a steady, and did the bore. I finished the taper with a Morse taper reamer. The quill came out very nicely, thank you very much.

HuFlungDung · Apr 6, 2018

One thing I did to a couple of my lathes was to drill a hole down the center of the tailstock screw so that I could use a rod with a weight on the end to serve as a slide hammer to eject the tail center, or drill shank out of the tailstock. I haven't had to crank the tailstock all the way back for years, already

This was done on larger lathes with a 5MT in a 3" diameter quill. I used a rod diameter of 7/16" with a large weight screwed on the outer end, and a smaller knockout head screwed onto the other end of the rod.

On a small lathe with a DIY quill, I'd think about stepping up the diameter of the screw if it made it possible to drill a hole down the center and still have enough screw remaining to function.

thermite · Apr 6, 2018

HuFlungDung said:
One thing I did to a couple of my lathes was to drill a hole down the center of the tailstock screw so that I could use a rod with a weight on the end to serve as a slide hammer to eject the tail center, or drill shank out of the tailstock. I haven't had to crank the tailstock all the way back for years, already This was done on larger lathes with a 5MT in a 3" diameter quill. I used a rod diameter of 7/16" with a large weight screwed on the outer end, and a smaller knockout head screwed onto the other end of the rod.

On a small lathe with a DIY quill, I'd think about stepping up the diameter of the screw if it made it possible to drill a hole down the center and still have enough screw remaining to function.

One COULD abandon the screw altogether - they are a serious pain in the anatomy for those who still try to drill with TS rather than carriage. Too slow on retract to clear chips fast and well.

Adopt a ram-lever and linkage instead. That could leave room for a goodly sized through bore as a byproduct.

The HBX 360 BC TS ram is thru-bored, rack & pinion operated, capstan OR handwheel selectable. Also a power option, but that part is so Micky-Mouse weird it has been shed already on my one.

Brings several advantages, shedding the slow and clumsy screw operation. Sort of thing that gets a person plotting and scheming to see if a similar modification could be made to other lathes whilst being reworked.

Demon69 · Apr 6, 2018

thermite said:
There's your far wiser move.

Ask HIM what to leave for grinding, and on the "slug", still solid.

Cut & deburr the keyway AFTERWARDS, install in TS, use your own lathe to drill the through hole, bore nut-sack, rough, then finish the 3 MT.

Done 100% "in situ" on the lathe & TS as will be running it, countervailing errors converge, you gets an enduringly good fit for that lathe only, but it IS the only one that matters.

All at the price of not TOO damned bad of an extra measure of tedium and f**k-with time to tool-up, clamp, etc.

Some items, fiddle-farting around to go the "hard way" does have a decent pay-off. This - hopefully a once-in-a-lifetime need - could well be one of those.

2CW as I have TWO to do. 10EE's, both. "Eventually".

Thats an interesting way of going about it Bill :scratchchin:

, but ive already got od turned down rough, left myself .100" to play with. Have drilled the through hole using the carriage. Out of necessity I turned down and old mt4 - 3 sleeve to go in the boring bar holder I just made, popped a drill chuck in there and got it on centre. Im converted, much nicer than using the tailstock to drill with

Demon69 · Apr 6, 2018

Limy Sami said:
Demon, if you need it, I have a Dormer 3 MT finishing hand reamer which ''could'' be available for loan, .so if you want, PM with your email or phone no' (if the gods are smiling I can read PMs)

Cheers sami, might well take you up on that one mate

digger doug said:
How do you feel about a MT-4 ?

Tool Holders, Mill Holders, Collets: Collis Toolholder Iowa

The O.D. and length hit your numbers.

Now thats a cool idea! Saves you faffing with the socket. Dont tell no-one but I got my dimensions a little bit wrong

, drawing adjusted.

DDoug · Apr 6, 2018

Demon73 said:
Now thats a cool idea! Saves you faffing with the socket. Dont tell no-one but I got my dimensions a little bit wrong , drawing adjusted.

I see your edits, it still works.
2" o.d. and you need 1.845, so you've got grind stock.

Demon69 · Apr 6, 2018

rklopp said:
I made my 10EE quill out of ETD-150. I finished the OD before knocking a hole down the middle. I turned it between centers (in my other lathe) very slightly oversize and then lapped it with a cast iron lap to fit the honed bore of the tailstock. After I got it to size, I grabbed one end in a 4-jaw and supported the other end in a steady, and did the bore. I finished the taper with a Morse taper reamer. The quill came out very nicely, thank you very much.

Thats encouraging to hear

I do have another lathe but tbh im loathed to use it now ive had a taste of DSG. Planning to turn the OD as last as possible, im probably worrying bout nothing. Gona try making a lap out of aluminium robin style.
What you reckon on cutting the keyway before finishing the OD? Its and interrupted cut but i havent the experience to know if its a problem.

HuFlungDung said:
One thing I did to a couple of my lathes was to drill a hole down the center of the tailstock screw so that I could use a rod with a weight on the end to serve as a slide hammer to eject the tail center, or drill shank out of the tailstock. I haven't had to crank the tailstock all the way back for years, already This was done on larger lathes with a 5MT in a 3" diameter quill. I used a rod diameter of 7/16" with a large weight screwed on the outer end, and a smaller knockout head screwed onto the other end of the rod.

On a small lathe with a DIY quill, I'd think about stepping up the diameter of the screw if it made it possible to drill a hole down the center and still have enough screw remaining to function.

At 1.845" The quill is about .100" bigger than the original. Ill be making a new screw an nut anyways so you got me thinking :scratchchin:

Demon69 · Apr 6, 2018

digger doug said:
I see your edits, it still works.
2" o.d. and you need 1.845, so you've got grind stock.

Dimension D comes out under at 1.8125" though!?

DDoug · Apr 6, 2018

Can't have everything.....

I have a bunch of various MT sockets for the turret lathes, they make a 2" o.d.
series, see if someone else makes a 2" o.d. the whole length, also
ring up Collis as see if they make one (or can mod one for you)

Demon69 · Apr 6, 2018

digger doug said:
Can't have everything.....

I have a bunch of various MT sockets for the turret lathes, they make a 2" o.d.
series, see if someone else makes a 2" o.d. the whole length, also
ring up Collis as see if they make one (or can mod one for you)

Not knocking the idea, its a good one imo. Had a quick look and theres plenty of stuff out there thatd work.
For me though im already down the road and need the learning atm

Turning a tailstock quill, how would you do it?

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