Tailstock scratch for Jet 1221VS

[Joseph Chang]

Hi,

I noticed that my live centers have a clear scratch mark on the MT2 from my Jet 1221VS lathe. It was there probably when I bought and started to use the lathe. I tried to feel if there was anything in the tailstock to cause the scratch with my finger several times but I couldn't feel anything. Last night, I finally decided to try if I could see anything (by eye) and notice there are marks as well . (see photos). I should have checked it after assembling the lathe.

My question is should I replace the metal part that holds the MT2? Or it is ok to leave like it? I may have access to a metal lathe, can that be fixed using some metal cutter?

livecenter.jpgtailstock.jpg

Thanks,
Joseph

[Jim Underwood]

I'd get two things for your maintenance arsenal-
One - to be used very sparingly - a good quality taper reamer and clean the burrs and scoring out of your taper. If you use it correctly and only when absolutely necessary, then you probably won't have any problems. But if you use it to excess, then you'll be buying a tailstock quill and/or headstock spindle.
Two - to be used all the time - a taper cleaner, sometimes called a "green weenie". Use it to clean your tapers of dust and grime. It will help keep your tapers and taper accessories in top form.

I'd also carefully clean up the burrs and dings on your centers. If it's very bad, just replace them all.
Store your taper accessories in a rack to keep them from getting dinged up in the first place. I made a wood shelf with appropriate sized holes to store all my centers and taper accessories.

I learned much of this the hard way...

[Joe Kaufman]

you could purchase a #2 MT finish reamer and try to clean the taper by hand. You will probably have to remove the taper sleeve from the tailstock because the ejection feature of the hand wheel will prevent the reamer from entering deep enough. I would only use the metal lathe as a last resort. I did purchase a reamer from Grizzly and it is OK, but not the same visual quality of a US made reamer.

[Roger Chandler]

Yep........I concur.........a morse taper #2 reamer is a good tool to have! I have used it once on my Grizzly G0698 just to debur the spindle and the quill. Lightly ream with just a bit of oil, and then clean out the oil........Jim is right......do not overuse this.........it is only for getting out metal burrs or if for some reason you get your morse taper buggered up somehow!!! You can get one form Enco fairly reasonably priced.

[roger oldre]

this scratch(probably from the drill chuck spinning in the tail stock taper) is affecting the quality of your turnings how?

[Glenn Howard]

Yep........I concur.........a morse taper #2 reamer is a good tool to have! I have used it once on my Grizzly G0698 just to debur the spindle and the quill. Lightly ream with just a bit of oil, and then clean out the oil........Jim is right......do not overuse this.........it is only for getting out metal burrs or if for some reason you get your morse taper buggered up somehow!!! You can get one form Enco fairly reasonably priced.

Warning, stupid question follows...you'd want a finishing reamer, not a roughing reamer for this situation, right? Or would it depend on the severity of the scratches?

[Scott Conners]

this scratch(probably from the drill chuck spinning in the tail stock taper) is affecting the quality of your turnings how?

It can make centers run out of true, as well as get stuck in the lathe. Neither of which is helpful for quality turning. Not addressing the issuecan let the damage to spread, as more centers get damaged and then damage other areas of the tailstock taper.

[Roger Chandler]

Warning, stupid question follows...you'd want a finishing reamer, not a roughing reamer for this situation, right? Or would it depend on the severity of the scratches?

I do believe this is the one that I got and used.........if it helps!

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?P...&PARTPG=INLMK3

[roger oldre]

just making sure there is a problem and not the perception of one. I have seen lots of damaged tapers that don't spread and don't cause further damage. If the tailstock has to be ejected and cant be removed by hand I would say that there is probably nothing wrong. It may not look good but mechanically it is still a sound piece of equipment.

[Marvin Hasenak]

One scratch won't affect the run out, the MT seats in the entire MT, the scratch is below the surface. You might have a small bur that sets high on the finish of the MT,, but if you couldn't feel it I doubt if there is a bur setting proud of the MT. I have an old Delta, 1972 model, the inside looks like it was turned with a railroad spike, the MT arbors still seat correctly.

These are also wood lathes, not precision metal lathes, they are not even on the same level as a Chinese metal lathe. The wood will change based on temperature and humidity more than the scratch in the MT.

[Joe Kaufman]

A Roughing Reamer has chip clearance notches in the flutes. They are used to remove significant amounts of metal, like making a taper from a straight bore hole. The surface finish is not as smooth.

[Fred Belknap]

Grizzly has a roughing reamer and a finish reamer. They are each thirty some dollars.

[Joseph Chang]

Thank everyone's reply.

I decided to purchase a new quill from Jet, which is $24, and filed the part of my live center that got scratched. Will be more careful when inserting into a MT in the future.

Joseph