Building A Taper Attachment For Sheldon Lathe?

I did buy the import boring head from Shars with a MT2 Tang style shaft. Now I need to turn down one of my dead centers to 1/2" to fit my boring head and shorten it so it is a close fit. Don't like the idea of having several inches hanging off the end of the boring head and trying to hold some kind of tolerances- not to mention the crappy finish I would end up with turning a long taper like a rifle barrel if there is any movement in the dead center at all.
Still need a few things to get this moving and my work schedule the last few months has made it difficult to concentrate on getting much accomplished on this project. But, I've begun concentrating on this again lately and hope to make some headway in the next few weeks.
Now if I could just find a steady rest to fit my lathe...

Bob
 
Don't turn your dead center down, just cut a new one , simple stuff, 1/2 round bar 30 degree compound... cut.. Way easier than trying to chuck or work on a tapered shaft. When you are done you can either harden it, or not. if you don't , then just keep in mind you'll have to true it every use or 2. You can case harden it too, it doesn't need to be hardened through.
 
Thanks, WC, I'll do that. Shouldn't take more than a few minutes to make one up.
 
I use the boring head in the tailstock set up also. In fact I'm looking for a used one so I can reserve my Criterion just for the mill. One huge advantage to using this method is the length of taper you can cut. You can cut a taper with power feed from center to center.
 
I bought a cheap import from Shars tool and it should work fine for my purposes. I should know in a week or two when I turn my first rifle barrel....

Bob
 
if the taper is real radical you may want to build the ball bearing center for the headstock , like mine
 
I took someone's advice on here and simply took a piece of 3/4" stock I had laying around and made a center to mount in the boring head. I think for my purposes it will work as long as I keep it lubed well during turning. Turning a rifle barrel taper shouldn't be too radical as tapers go, I wouldn't think....

Bob
 
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