shoptask lathe spindle mill work

[leeharrysouth]

MY shoptask came with a drawbar for the lathe spindle. I assume this bar is inteded to attach collets to the spindle for various purposes. What sort of collet fits the spindle taper and draw bar? I wonder, if an end mill and milling attachment to the table would provide a means to accomplish viration free heavy milling. My mill head does very good work, but, heavy cuts do generate a good bit of vibration.

leeharrysouth

[dgapilot]

The lathe spindle bore is supposed to be a Morse #4 taper. There are #4 taper collets available and that is what the draw bar is for. Sizes are somewhat limited though.

[fastlanecafe]

The lathe spindle has a Morse 4 taper because it was designed to do lathe work between centers. Morse 4 collets are available, but are hard to find and usually expensive. A cheap alternative is to buy a 5C collet block set and some 5C collets. The collet block runs about 30.00 from a number of tool stores. It contains a Hex piece which you can grip in your 3 jaw chuck- just make up a drawbar and voila you can use 5C collets. The accuracy will only be as good as your lathe chuck, but for most stuff it is fine.

[leeharrysouth]

Thanks for the tip. I may give it a try.

leeharrysouth