Cleaning up MT2 and MT3 tapers?

Oh, I also have found out the hard way that leaving a center in my tailstock is a great way to find out just how sharp that point is using body parts not designed for the purpose. :mad: It now lives with a nice plastic plug till needed.
 
I bought and used a 3MT reamer on a 2MT arbor last year to clean up my spindle. It was held in the tailstock ram.There were a couple of high spots. It still ran true after the minor surgery. I would comment that if both tapers are scarred up you would have to pick which one to start with. And if both are pretty bad, do a little in one and then a little in the other, alternating back and forth.
 
I would guess that the spindle and tailstock ram are hardened to some extent, but probably no match for the reamers. These reamers should be glass hard and since you're only taking a few high spots off it should hardly(hehe) pose a problem.

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Yes, the reamers (or at least good ones) are harder than the spindle or tailstock ram.
 
The MT3 reamer I ordered on E-Bay just arrived today. My tail stock was pretty much in rough shape from years of use/abuse.
It takes a bit of hand cranking with an 18 inch Crescent to smooth things out. The only problem I had was that my MT3 live center
bottomed out. My choices were to machine off a bit of the center or a bit of the tail stock. I opted for the center and removed about
.050 inch off the back side of it. That solved that problem and now all my MT3 stuff fits nicely. The reamer is razor sharp but
still it takes quite an effort to get the job done. It was $12.00 well spent.
 
$12. , tell me more. Like who did you get it from.
 
$12. , tell me more. Like who did you get it from.

Do a search on E-Bay for " MT3 reamer" and you will find them if you scroll down a page or so. Mine came
Hong Kong and the price is $11.16 plus $1.56 shipping. There are 5 left as of this morning...
 
Thanks cathead, it amazes me the deals that can be had with Asian products. I love the free or cheap shipping, so what if it takes 2 months.
 
Thanks cathead, it amazes me the deals that can be had with Asian products. I love the free or cheap shipping, so what if it takes 2 months.

I just checked my E-Bay history and it took 17 days so quicker than one might expect.:)
 
That's very quick, the quickest for me was carbide inserts in 21 days.
 
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