# Taig Lathe Modifications



## holmes_ca (Jun 14, 2014)

I have been a member for quite a few years but haven't submitted anything in a long time, 

I was contacted by a HMEM group email reminding me of that fact, and asking for an update, I did belong to quite a lot of Yahoo groups but because the lack of interest in my projects was evident, and I didn't appear to be one of the good old boys I deleted them and now I just post videos on youtube, and in case anyone is interested just type Walter Maisey, well I got rid of my older larger machines and bought a Taig Lathe and Mill, I have made some alterations to the lathe, 

At this time I am in the process of building Jerry Howell's radiator for my 80% finished Sealion, I have just finished machining the 8 cores (see youtube)


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## barnesrickw (Jun 14, 2014)

I'll be sure to check your videos out.  Taig owner also. 


Sent from my iPad using Model Engines


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## Tin Falcon (Jun 14, 2014)

Walt welcome we try to make all feel welcome here. feel free to post active links to some of the better videos. 

Tin


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## holmes_ca (Jun 16, 2014)

Here are some photos of some things I have changed on my Taig Lathe, these photos include a top slide to cross slide new clamping system similar to the Hardinge HLV_H Toolroom lathe, it consists of a floating pillar and an eccentric locking shaft it works 100% better than Taig design, also photos include adjustable height tool holder for 1/8 sq to 1/4 sq bits

........Edmund..........Alberta,


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## robcas631 (Jun 16, 2014)

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing holmes.


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## holmes_ca (Jun 17, 2014)

An update on progress with building a radiator (Jerry Howell's design) I have finished the fins on all 8 cores, these photos show the drilling of the 5/32 core holes, I had to make some tooling to support the outer end, it consists of a aluminium plate that fits the tool holder and has a ball bearing located on the core end,


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## gerritv (Jun 23, 2014)

I really enjoy your videos. The other forums are missing out on your creativity!

Did you have to bore out the tailstock hole for the collet chuck? I am decidedly unhappy with the drill chuck in ts idea, i need a much better solution. Collet chucks are less $ than decent drill chucks.

Gerrit


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## kuhncw (Jun 23, 2014)

Hello Walter,

Thanks for posting the modifications to your Taig lathe.  What is the horizontal bar, behind the lathe bed, used for?

Regards,

Chucki


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## holmes_ca (Jun 24, 2014)

gerritv said:


> I really enjoy your videos. The other forums are missing out on your creativity!
> 
> Did you have to bore out the tailstock hole for the collet chuck? I am decidedly unhappy with the drill chuck in ts idea, i need a much better solution. Collet chucks are less $ than decent drill chucks.
> 
> Gerrit



Hello Gerrit,
   thank you for the interest and your comment, re your request about ER16 collet holder and shank, the shank was 6" long, I was under the impression the original Taig tailstock spindle was a standard .500 dia but found it to be either under size for a purpose or metric, the new purchase was .500 dia so I ran a .500 reamer through the  tailstock bore, that solved my problem but I am not saying it was the right thing to do or for anyone to do that, with the slit in the bore and the clamping arrangement its all a bit iffy its kind of utility anyway, jmo,

Re the application I used it for and the way I did it is not to be recommended, eg for the safety factor, a system that Taig uses would be advisable (a lever action) or some design feature where safety is assured,

.......Edmund.........Alberta


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## holmes_ca (Jun 24, 2014)

kuhncw said:


> Hello Walter,
> 
> Thanks for posting the modifications to your Taig lathe.  What is the horizontal bar, behind the lathe bed, used for?
> 
> ...



Hello Chucki,
    the horizontal bar is a guide bar for a new tailstock I developed, the idea came to me after seeing Mr Urwick's Metal Master Lathe back in the sixties  http://www.lathes.co.uk/metalmaster/ 

It allows me to move the saddle past the new tailstock when drilling keeping the quill closer to the body instead of extending the quill (stretching) and for machining between centres by allowing the saddle to move under it, its not perfect, being in development and improvements , but it suits my purpose, 

Further details are described at youtube in videos, just type in Walter Maisey,

Thanks for your interest, 

..........Edmund..........Alberta


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## kuhncw (Jun 24, 2014)

Thank you, Walter.  That is an interesting tailstock and rear support you've come up with.

I've been enjoying your videos.

Regards,

Chuck


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## gerritv (Jun 25, 2014)

Thank you, yes I found out also about the 'just under .500"' thing when I bought my Taig and didn't have a way to mount the drill chuck (no dead centre supplied). Had to semi crudely file/sand down some .500 rod to made an interim drill chuck arbour. Seems a strange decision but I suppose starting with .5 and doing a light grind will result in the size it is.

Gerrit



holmes_ca said:


> Hello Gerrit,
> thank you for the interest and your comment, re your request about ER16 collet holder and shank, the shank was 6" long, I was under the impression the original Taig tailstock spindle was a standard .500 dia but found it to be either under size for a purpose or metric, the new purchase was .500 dia so I ran a .500 reamer through the  tailstock bore, that solved my problem but I am not saying it was the right thing to do or for anyone to do that, with the slit in the bore and the clamping arrangement its all a bit iffy its kind of utility anyway, jmo,
> 
> Re the application I used it for and the way I did it is not to be recommended, eg for the safety factor, a system that Taig uses would be advisable (a lever action) or some design feature where safety is assured,
> ...


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## holmes_ca (Jun 26, 2014)

Gerrit,
   this is just an observation on my part and just my opinion, but I find a lot of emphasis is placed on the tailstock that it has to be spot on and positioned within tenths vertically and horizontally , I know its a standard that should be, but its not always so, I see that the tailstock has two major uses first it is to drill holes and second to spot centres to enable long bars to be supported from a 3 jaw or 4 jaw chuck or turning between two centres, 
With the drilling process if the centre is out a little most times the accuracy of the hole is not that important and the spot and drill bit will find the centre within reason, if you want accuracy then you need to drill undersized then bore, if you are machining between centres then the horizontal plane is the most important setting, if the vertical plane is high or low of the centre say a thou I don't think its relevant in affecting accuracy as long as the toolbit is on the centreline as well, there are to many variables to mention,
This post is just a condensed observation, and just the way I see it, its related to the use of a hobby lathe, in this case a Taig  with a limited accuracy and not to a very high end precision machine,  

........Edmund..........Alberta


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## gerritv (Jun 27, 2014)

Hi Edmund
I agree that a thou here and there won't affect too many thing in our hobby, I generally machine things to fit the other part. But in my case the HS to TS centres were out >.005" vertically, which was enough to snap the tip off a very small centre drill :wall: while centre drilling a shaft end.
I shimmed up the HS with shim stock and all was fine after that.

I only use machine/stub drills because they are stiffer and enlarge my work envelope, but they are also less forgiving of offsets.


Gerrit


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## holmes_ca (Jun 28, 2014)

gerritv said:


> Hi Edmund
> I agree that a thou here and there won't affect too many thing in our hobby, I generally machine things to fit the other part. But in my case the HS to TS centres were out >.005" vertically, which was enough to snap the tip off a very small centre drill :wall: while centre drilling a shaft end.
> I shimmed up the HS with shim stock and all was fine after that.
> 
> ...



Gerrit,
   I understand now, yes .005 is certainly way off I was thinking more like Max .001, I wonder how many like your one went through the door before quality control found it, it happens, talking about stub drills I purchased on amazon a few different sizes up to 3/8 dia little short drill bits with a standard threaded shank not more than 1.500 long including the thread, I think some of them are used in the aircraft industry, I still have to make a threaded holder for them, have no idea how good they are but cheap enough,
Maybe I will make a threaded holder and check the accuracy,

............Edmund...........Alberta


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## gerritv (Jun 29, 2014)

My machine came to me pre-loved. Not sure if it was abused or not, e.g. there were steel filings embedded in the carriage casting, leaving lovely scratches on the ways. Removed the filings with a pick and all is fine. So who knows. Taig sells the basic machine separate from the tail stock as well so there is another possibility for an offset, it is not matched at factory like my Unimat was.

Simple fix though.

Gerrit


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## holmes_ca (Jun 30, 2014)

Gerrit,
Have you fitted wipers yet?, if you haven't and you intend to, I have a little tip for what its worth, smokers pipe cleaners are very soft and they have a very pliable twisted wire down through the centre there is not a lot of area between the top of the lathe bed and the top surface of the saddle top, the cleaners form over the bed and around the dovetails, and I managed to get two cleaners at each end of the saddle with covers containing them, I think I have a video that indicates on you tube,

Re after market supplier, I bought an after market adaptor for the Taig mill from a company, it was complete crap, the retailer said that the company threw out all the faulty adapters or so they thought  I was unlucky and got one they missed, retailer also informed me the company had changed their supplier,


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## gerritv (Jul 1, 2014)

I have 3 mods/additions left on my list before beginning a Jan Ridders engine. One of them is wipers. I was planning to use square leather shoe lace but pipe cleaners I have as well. The containing block for the LH side of carriage is ready, I need it for an eventual threading attachment as well so it is .25" Al.

My various additions are on my blog: http://hobbies.psgv.ca/machining/taig-my-new-lathe/

Happy Dominion/Canada Day!

Gerrit


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## holmes_ca (Jul 1, 2014)

Gerrit,
   I enjoyed viewing your blog, very impressive, I looked at Start Model Engineering, also an interesting site, the square leather shoe lace is a nice idea, now why didn't I think of that, so many ways, is there a way I can be notified of new things on your blog like you tube? I would like to follow your progress, 

..........Edmund.........Alberta


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## gerritv (Jul 1, 2014)

The best way to follow is with an RSS aggregator such as Netvibes.com. I am trying as an experiment to use email subscriptions (just added to the site) for Taig related posts. 
You can subscribe and unsubscribe. Emails have an unsubscribe option at bottom. You would get 0-1 emails per day max.

I need to add some privacy and CASL (Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation) bumpf to the site. Basically I share no information except the content I write.
http://hobbies.psgv.ca/machining/taig-my-new-lathe/
Gerrit


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## holmes_ca (Jul 2, 2014)

OK looks like I'm registered, thanks I look forward to updates,

..........Edmund.........Alberta


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