In the previous video, I completed the main body of the tool.
In this video, I finish it off, by making the morse taper shaft, as well as the handle.
The shaft is a straight forward piece of turning, but its worth noting that all of the cylindrical
features must be concentric for it to work. The center holes on the shaft for the existing tool
suggest it was turned between centers to achieve this result. I'm going to machine
part of it between centers, but I'll machine the taper while holding it in a collet.
I'll explain why later in the video.
So starting with a piece of mild steel, I prepared it for turning between centers, by giving it a facing cut and center drilling each end.
As I've mentioned before, I don't have a drive plate for this lathe,
so I turned a temporary center from this hex bar, and attached a driver to that.
To be honest, I find it more convenient to do this,
than to take off the chuck to put in a center anyway, and since its turned in place,
I know its right on the center line of the lathe.
A lathe carrier was attached to the work, and the part set up for turning.
With the first cut marked out, I started the job of turning the profile to size.
The fit with the main bore is quite nice, so I'm calling that done.
Next up is the taper, and for this I'm shifting to an ER collet to hold the part.
It's not quite as accurate as doing it between centers, but I'm a bit limited in how I can cut an accurate taper with my lathe.
The best option I could come up with was to copy an existing taper, and then cut it using the compound.
So this little Sherline drill arbor is my test subject,
and it'll sit nicely in a collet while I copy its taper with an indicator.
I set the compound over to roughly the correct angle, and then spent a bit of time tapping it into place,
until it was travelling parallel to the taper in the chuck.
Its a bit fiddly, but it doesn't take too long to get it set up, and then it can be locked down for the cut.
The workpiece was then fixed into a collet, and the taper cut by feeding in with the compound.
Now the only zero morse taper I have for testing the result,
is the one sitting in the lathe, so I pulled it out of the tailstock body to make it a bit more convenient to hold,
and used it as a gauge to check my progress.
The size is about right, but the surface finish could be better.
So a quick touch with a mill file to smooth out the tool marks, and the fit is excellent.
A light chamfer, and its done.
The steel shaft is a lot harder than the aluminium, so it will wear the bore a little over time,
loosening the fit a tiny amount, but I don't think it will be a major issue.
The next part of the tool to make is this handle.
It needs a thread cut on it so it can screw into the main tool body,
so first up I faced the stock and then turned the end to the correct diameter for threading.
I cut a little chamfer on the end to help start the thread,
and used my existing die holder to hold the die.
The thread also needs a good undercut, so that the handle pulls down nicely into the main body of the tool.
And lastly I reduced it to final length and gave it a general tidy up.
The part was then flipped in the chuck, and the other end was given a clean up too.
I'm really enjoying using a graver to turn this sort of non critical stuff.
They're so much fun to use, and probably quicker than messing around with a form tool to do the same cut.
I just love watching those chips curl off.
I also decided to put in some ornamental grooves,
just to pretty it up a little, and make it a bit more pleasant to hold.
And thats the handle done.
Were on the home stretch. The last thing to take care of is just a small detail on the grub screws.
They need a cone turned on the end to match the dimple shapes in the die.
So that's all of the bits and pieces, let's put it together and give it a run.
This 10BA screw is typical of the sort of small screw I'll be using this die holder to thread.
I can see the die is sitting quite steady as the thread is cut, and it does a much better
job than the standard holder, of holding the die square to the work.
Its got a nice light feel to it; I get a direct sense of how the thread is being cut, through the grip.
I've got a lot of these screws to make, this tool is going to get plenty of use.
Thanks for watching, I'll see you later.
If you'd like to make this tool yourself, there are plans available at the blog site. Have a look in the description box below, for more info.
Also, if you're new to the channel, you should know I release regular project video's like this one, as well as video's on a longer term clock making project.
Don't hesitate! If you're still watching this late in the video, then this is your kind of channel.
Hit subscribe, and I'll see you on the next one.