Cleaning Internal Morse Tapers

I use and recommend the green TaperMate "soft" cleaners which are probably very like the 3D item. There is a video on YouTube - not sure if I am allowed to give the link.

Mine came from the US but the cost was bearable and certainly less than the pricey items mentioned above.

For keeping mine clean, after having used an MT2 reamer for de-burring, I use a radiator brush from my local discount shop.
Think test tube cleaner on steroids.
Also the cork from a bottle of port is just the right size to fit the Myford tailstock taper when not in use to prevent the ingress of swarf, cast iron dust etc. (Champagne or other drinks are available for MT3 tapers.)
Once the tailstock taper is clean, just wipe any male taper with a paper towel, and then your fingers before inserting the tool.
Fingers are very sensitive, and will easily pick upon any damage or embedded swarf.

Bill

Machine tapers must be kept clean and treated as a precision fitting which they are. Taper shanks should be inspected and cleaned before insertion into the socket. As Hopper said the tailstock socket is often not hard and inserting a damaged taper shank will tend to transfer the damage to the socket and compromise the grip so the tool will spin in the socket causing more damage. Taper shank tooling should be stored so as to avoid bruising the taper, if the taper is bruised it can raise material around the bruise which can be stoned away to just leave a low spot which will not really affect the holding grip of the taper. Keeping the sockets clean is important as any swarf chips will be pressed into the socket and shank. I find a brass wire brush as used for shotgun barrel cleaning is good for 2 morse sockets. It is easier to keep the socket in good condition than to restore damage but of course a used machine may not have had a life of TLC. Using any abrasive paste in a taper is going to tend to produce grooving as the only effective movement is rotation, probably an effective way to ruin the socket.

Mike

I ended up making some taper cleaners on the 3D printer. One is fluted PLA, the other is PLA with two slots for some scotchbrite strips. They did the job, loosening the crud and then cleaning up the surfaces:



However, a test by tapping a brand new centre into each one revealed some pretty lousy contact areas, and some clear damage in the form of rings:





I did an evaluation of the tapers using a test bar, the results of which are here:

**LINK**

I wonder if now the initial clean-up doesn't seem to have worked too well - or at least shown up some damage that's not going to "buff out" - I maybe should consider going at them with a taper reamer (lightly, just by hand obviously).

By the way, I wasn't even born when this lathe was made, so I have no idea of its full history. I've always been careful with the tapers, but that's only recently that they've seen any real use by me (and then only the tailstock). I therefore couldn't have avoided them being in the condition they're in now, but I'm left to try and improve them.

As ever, any further advice welcome. Cheers.

Don't rely on the results from just one new centre to give a true picture of the tailstock socket, the centre may not be perfect. You may be showing up an error on the surface of the new centre. Can you try the new centre in some other socket to see if there is a different result?

Martin C

Thanks Martin, I got 3 new centres, they’re all the same kind of pattern.