My lathe has an MT4 headstock spindle taper and an MT3 tailstock taper. I have an offshore chuck on an MT3 arbor for the tailstock and it works quite well. However I have another chuck, an Almond that I picked up some time ago when I purchased another lathe. It is a beautiful old chuck mounted on an MT2 arbor. Unfortunately I have to use an MT3 to MT2 adapter to mount it in the tailstock and it projects quite a bit more than it should. The extra projection is about 20 mm more than the other chuck.
The Almond chuck sits on a JT2 taper so what I really need is a MT3/JT2 arbor.
I have looked at Busy Bee tools and a local shop however neither carry such an arbor. I can find them on ebay however with shipping about double the fairly high price of the arbor - I don't need it that bad.
My plan is this:
- order an MT4 to MT3 or a MT4 to MT2 adapter.
- order an MT3 arbor with a soft steel (the JT2 end). The MT3 part is hardened.
(the mt adapters will always be handy so not a waste)
Place the old MT2 arbor into the spindle of the lathe using one or two adapters to size it up. Align the compound using the existing JT2 taper, replace it with the arbor blank and machine to a JT2 taper.
It looks like photo bucket is still down so I will put up a few photos once it is up and running.
One question I have is regarding the soft steel that I will make my JT2 taper from - will it be ok to leave it that way?
I have hardened drill rod and other high carbon steel so am not a total novice at that. I have several small propane/MAP gas torches and it's likely I can heat the end of the arbor red hot however I have no idea if it needs to be plunged into water, oil, blood or other body fluids
If I attempt to harden it there may be less than favourable effects on the MT3 portion - any ideas appreciated.
Thanks for reading,
John.