A Taper Attachment For The Craftsman Lathe

Thanks Robert .
I'll try have a play later on today after I've been to my physio session at hospital to see what's involved on my Sphere .(I'll take plenty of photo's ) I've a sneaky suspicion that the hand wheel ( which you call a crank ?? ) is pinned to the cross shaft on my lathe with a parallel pin which is almost ded level with the metal of the die cast alloy wheel's boss making it's going to be a pigs ear to get out .

Dern you guys always adding to my project list. Things just keep going on the list but not to many being made yet. Seems like I'm gona have to work till I'm at least a hundred years old , god I love this , just wish I had more money and room . Nice job on your taper attachment , I think it will do everything you need for years to come. Hey it hands value to your lathe too. I've gotten use to offsetting the tail stock for tapers, this will be easier.

David,

It has been a while since I saw photos of your Sphere. It might have a hand wheel pinned to the cross feed screw instead of a crank and a Woodruff key. But although the Atlas 9" and early 10" did have a small wheel or knob for driving the compound, and an intermediate size handwheel on the cross feed, from 10D (and equivalent 12") on, they have had cranks in both locations. And both the wheels and the cranks float on the shafts between two nuts and are kept from rotating by a Woodruff key.

Nice thanks for posting.

I think I've got it sussed Robert , now all I need is the plans .
Bakelite cover removed , leaves a threaded hole


The securing/locating screw that holds the cross feed driving brass nut will leave a second locating hole for the taper attachment . ( Arragh I didn't check to see if it is threaded in its own right )


The cross feed brass driver nut



When started to look at depth in to taking the hand wheel off , under all the crud that i thought may be a blind pin it had a well worn slotted grub screw running into one side of a champhered hole in the operating shaft .

The only feathered /keyed thing on the shaft is the power cross feed gear . There must be a good 3/32 th of end float in the shaft including including movement where the brass driving nut is anchored to the cross feed body . I've turned a thick steel washer down to reduce as much as I dare by putting it between the hand wheel boss and the index reference collar .

David,

OK. Your cross-feed screw is different from the later (meaning at least 10 F on) Atlas. On them, the outer end of the cross feed screw is threaded 3/8"-24 from the outer end up and into where the dial sits. There is a thin pattern nut (AKA jam nut) between the crank (on yours, handwheel) and the dial and a nut on the outer end of the screw. The crank is prevented from turning on the screw by a woodruff key. And by differential adjustment of the two nuts, you can reduce the end float of the screw essentially to zero.

And the hole that the round head screw securing the cross-feed nut to the cross slide goes through is not threaded. Threads are in the nut.

terrywerm said:

Nice job on the taper attachment. I also see that I am not the only one that uses an old cookie sheet for catching the majority of chips under the lathe.

Click to expand...

Ha! Me too! Mine's more of a pizza tray... Round but works (for the most part).

Kevin

Commercial baking sheet. ------ $2.00 yardsale just right...........BLJHB.