Morse Taper Tool

[henton49er]

My lathe has MT3 at the headstock end. My previous lathe was MT2. In order to save buying too much new kit, I bought a MT3>MT2 sleeve which fits very snuggly and takes all my MT2 drives without any apparent difficulty.

Well, there is one difficulty. I find it very difficult to remove the MT2 drives from the sleeve. I have tried a variety of flat screwdrivers with a small mallet (with the inevitable damaged palms, fingers etc as a result). Is there a special tool for this or a special technique that I am not aware of?. The sleeve has the usual "slot" in it so the end of the MT2 drive is just visible.

Any thoughts / advice would be welcome.

 

[marcros]

i think that you need to source a morse taper removing wedge. that is not a flippant answer- i believe that is the correct name for it!

 

[Paul Hannaby]

It's called a drift

Here's one from Tilgear http://www.tilgear.info/products/6114/94167/gro2mtexd__extractor_drift_no_2_/

They also do 1 and 3 MT

 

[henton49er]

It's called a drift

Here's one from Tilgear http://www.tilgear.info/products/6114/94167/gro2mtexd__extractor_drift_no_2_/

They also do 1 and 3 MT

Hi Paul,

When I look at the link you have sent through it says "For knocking out the morse taper from a machine spindle". This presumably removes the MT3 sleeve with the MT2 drive attached. This I can already do with what I call a "knockout bar". I am then stuck separating the morse taper sleeve from the drive. Is the description on the link wrong, or have I not made myself clear in what I am looking for?

 

[katellwood]

Its a wedged shape piece of steel that fits in the slot at the end of the sleeve. A small tap with a mallet or hammer pops the chuck out of the sleeve. (you normally get one with a pillar drill for removing the chuck from the machine) I have one and will photograph tomorrow and post on here. easy to cut from a piece of plate steel approx 6mm thick

 

[jpt]

A picture of one here http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Beta-Tools-42 ... 0784894686

Easy to make if you have the metal, they dont work very well made from wood.

john

 

[henton49er]

It's called a drift

Here's one from Tilgear http://www.tilgear.info/products/6114/94167/gro2mtexd__extractor_drift_no_2_/

They also do 1 and 3 MT

Hi Paul,

When I look at the link you have sent through it says "For knocking out the morse taper from a machine spindle". This presumably removes the MT3 sleeve with the MT2 drive attached. This I can already do with what I call a "knockout bar". I am then stuck separating the morse taper sleeve from the drive. Is the description on the link wrong, or have I not made myself clear in what I am looking for?

Having done a bit more research and viewed more recent posts, it is evident that you were correct, Paul, and the description on the link you gave me was misleading (or maybe just plain wrong!). I assume I need a drift for an MT3 taper?

 

[Duncan A]

Mike
To make a drift, all you need is a piece of steel of appropriate thickness to pass through the slot, with a 1 in 5 (I'm guessing but can measure up tomorrow if you wish) taper on one edge - ie one corner 90 degrees, one side abt 25mm, the other 125mmt, hypotenuse 127mm. All very approx and not at all critical.
Push it into the slot, until it stops, tap it with a hammer.
It's that simple
The small piece of steel costs nothing/can be found at your local rubbish tip; just shape it with a hacksaw and file.
Duncan

 

[tekno.mage]

Mike,

If you are passing, call in with one of your MT2 items in it's MT3 sleeve and have a go with one of our collection of various drifts

Kym

 

[Retire2004]

With respect to you all, I think you may be missing an important point here. Drill drfts are fine provided both mating parts are "full morse taper specification as used in engineering". By this I mean that the MT3 sleeve will have a tang and and a slot at the back end, which I beleive yours has Mike. However most (if not all) MT drives used in woodturning do not have a tang as they rely purely on friction for driving. (The tang is the flat part which would extend up into the slot to fascilitate ejection). This means that they are shorter (as the tang is missing and would not extend into the slot on the MT3 sleeve. In this situation a drift would probably jam in the slot before ejecting the drive.
I can think of 2 possible solutions:-
1/ Fit dowels to the ends of your drives etc. to enable the use of a drift ( not really practical as shanks mat be hardened and you would need to do it each time you buy a new drive.)
2/ Cut off the end of the MT3 just below the slot so that knockout bars can be used for both items. (If too hard to hacksaw you may need to use an angle grinder or similar.)
Hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Tudor

 

[nev]

drifts sold here for 2 quid http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue ... ges-Drifts

if the end of the inner MT is only just visible and therefore not 'pushable' is it feasible 'just' to lengthen the slot on the outer MT and and use a wider drift?

 

[henton49er]

Drill drfts are fine provided both mating parts are "full morse taper specification as used in engineering". By this I mean that the MT3 sleeve will have a tang and and a slot at the back end, which I beleive yours has Mike

Yes, my sleeve has both tang and slot.

However most (if not all) MT drives used in woodturning do not have a tang as they rely purely on friction for driving. (The tang is the flat part which would extend up into the slot to fascilitate ejection). This means that they are shorter (as the tang is missing and would not extend into the slot on the MT3 sleeve. In this situation a drift would probably jam in the slot before ejecting the drive.

My 4 prong jumbo drive has no tang, and can only be seen in the slot in the sleeve by about 1 - 2 mm

Cut off the end of the MT3 just below the slot so that knockout bars can be used for both items. (If too hard to hacksaw you may need to use an angle grinder or similar

If I then try to knock the sleeve and drive from the headstock, aren't I in danger of knocking out the drive, leaving the sleeve wedged in the headstock spindle? Can I just lengthen the slot in the sleeve as another post has suggested?

At the moment the jumbo drive is stuck in the sleeve, and I have yet to find the right piece of steel to shift it!

Thanks for all the advice on this thread.

 

[CHJ]

I have a couple of 'wood lathe' taper tools that were too short to engage the tail stock automatic ejection facility, (end of actuating threaded rod) no tang or its equivalent round protrusion long enough, and I found that they were not hardened as one would expect a metal working lathe centre to be.
They were easily drilled and tapped to take a short 6mm bolt or studding and nut in the rear which was enough to achieve the increased length required.

Regarding the stuck item, try heating the M3 piece with the M2 piece clamped with something to dissipate the heat (metal working vice) and see if you can get enough differential expansion to easy the bond.

Even placing the lot in the freezer and then applying heat.

 

[Retire2004]

Mike, To solve your immediate problem of removing the drive from the MT sleeve. Try something like an anle grinder spanner, these are about the correct thicknessand are sometimes tapered so should fit with a bit of hacksawingand filing. (Drift angle is about 7 degrees I think, but not really important). Hold the MT/drive assembly (drive dogs down)and slip a ball bearing or small nut into the slot, then carefully push in your improvised driftand a sharp tap should do the trick! I think Nev makes a good point regarding elongation of the slot in the MT3 provided it is not too hard to file/saw. If it is too hard, then you could cut it off as I suggested. The knockout problem can be solved by making a stepped knockout bar which is a fairly snug fit in your spindle hole with the stepped potion being a little smaller than the small end of the taper on your jumbo drive. The shoulder can then be used to eject the MT3. Regards, Tudor

 

[CHJ]

.... The knockout problem can be solved by making a stepped knockout bar which is a fairly snug fit in your spindle hole with the stepped potion being a little smaller than the small end of the taper on your jumbo drive. The shoulder can then be used to eject the MT. Regards, Tudor

Problem with a lot of wood lathes is they only have a 8mm or 5/16" clearance hole in the headstock spindle and tailstock quill for a knock out bar or boring auger so you can't get at the truncated sleeve rear face.

 

[chipmunk]

Hi Mike,
As others have said the drill drifts only really work with tanged MT tooling. So another possibility is to thread the end (M10) of those MT2 tools which don't have one and screw in a tang (about half way down this page)....

http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue/Chucks/Drill-Chuck-Arbors

This is a bit like Chas' suggestion. These folks also sell the drill drifts (at the bottom of the page) as Jonzjob says....

http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue/Chucks/Wedges-Drifts

HTH
Jon