Lathe problem -spur

[Eggboy]

Last week I said I was going to "steal" one of my dad's 2 lathes and give turning a whorl. Dad says -ya you can buy this good one or you can have this piece of junk. So naturally I drag home (in the snow storm) this scrap iron -circa 1900's antique with a big ol' leather belt pulley system. Looking at the spur it seems pretty much worn out( or bashed on the floor 20 times) and I would be afraid to trust it so off to Busybee I go to get a new spur. Problem is that a Morris taper #1 is too small and a #2 is too big -they're also too short (not worried about that) anyways does anybody know of another taper system out there for this old machine ?or should I just machine down a #2 taper to fit? or should I just take it to the scrap yard? (can't-must fix)-Andy

[Ken in Dartmouth]

I assume that your spindle has a hole through it, and that there is enough metal to allow a larger hole. If so, what is necessary is to ream the existing hole out to a #2 Morse taper. Any machine shop worthy of the name can help you out at a reasonable cost. The problem with machining the spur center is that you will then have to machine anything else you may want to use in the headstock.

Ken in Dartmouth

[Eggboy]

Being new to turning ,what else would I want to put in the headstock? -faceplate treads on head not in the taper, with my limited knowledge that's all I'll ever need! (ha!) There is not much metal in the headstock to risk machining a bigger taper as there are outside treads 1" 8 tpi for the faceplate -thanks Andy

[Bodger (Toronto, Ontario)]

As was recently suggested here, you could purchase a Oneway scroll chuck, for which a spur is available. Even if you abandon the lathe for something better you can still re-use the chuck as the mounting inserts are removeable.

Bodger

[Ken in Dartmouth]

Hi, Andy;
The diameter at the large end of a #2 Morse taper is about .700", and the root diameter of a 1"-8 tpi is .875. That should be a sufficient difference to be workable. As for what else you might want to put into the headstock, how about a drill chuck, a sanding drum, a polishing arbor, a pen-turning arbor, etc, etc, etc.

Ken in Dartmouth

[Karen in Dunrobin]

Hi Andy,
I have an old Blaisdell lathe that was made about the same time as yours. I have the opposite problem. I have a nice spur centre but no dead centre (for the tail stock). Like you none of the MTs fit. Turns out mine is a Jacobs Taper #33. There are more tapers out there than you can shake a stick at. It you take measurements of the taper you can have a machinist look up your taper type in a reference book.

I am having a machinist make me an adapter for the JT #33 to a #2 MT. It will cost me about $200. A chuck for your lathe will probably cost you about the same as having a machinist make the part for you. I would go for the chuck, as Bodger suggested.

In case you don't already know, your lathe will also have babbitt bearings, which is a bearing made by pouring soft babbitt metal into a mold. The softer babbitt metal will slowly wear against the harder metal of the shaft. These bearings need to be oiled when you run the lathe. They aren't roller bearings like they make now a days. There is a little hole over top of the bearings where you put a few drops of oil.

You should take the headstock apart and make sure that your bearings are in reasonably good shape before you invest the money in the chuck. It the headstock spins nicely and doesn't grind too much than you are probably ok.
Karen

[Eggboy]

I have no idea what make of lathe this is - there is no name or plate or numbers ,nothing!!! I've looked at a ton of old lathe pics on the net, some very similar but none exact.I'm going to investigate the Jacobs taper but if that doesn't work out I'm going with the $9.99 (on sale) #2 spur at Busybee and my cousin said he would machine it to fit, no trouble. I'm not about to send a bunch of cash on this old girl, I can see I WILL outgrow it if I like turning. The bed will only hold something 18-20" long and the head seems low to the bed ,meaning no big bowls (only little cereal bowls) Yes, I've had the head apart and cleaned up the oil holes and it spins perfectly -thanks Andy

[J.P.Rap in Hamilton]

Got a photo of the spur?