tailstock drive for 3/4″ tap

[Michael FodenParticipant @michaelfoden39595]

Some years ago I made some brass chucks for my woodturning lathe, the spindle size being 3/4" x 16 tpi (unf).

I now wish to use the taps & matching die for another purpose but need to ensure complete accuracy. I have the die holder which is on a # 2 M.T., but can't figure out how I managed to use the taps in my ML 10 tailstock, as they will not fit my drill chucks, & I didn't have any larger chucks when completing the original work.

Apart from the massive tap wrenches (15" long ), there does not appear to be anything on the market to suit this size of tap ( 11mm AF ).

Any suggestions would be welcome. Many thanks.

Mike.

[Michael FodenParticipant @michaelfoden39595]

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Is there a centre hole in the end of the tap? if so just use your centre to support the tap and apply pressure while turning with a spanner on the square of the tap.

If no center hole then turn up a female cone centre (big countersunk hole) on teh end of a piece of rod, reduce the other end to fit your tailstock chuck and put that over the end of the tap.

Or screwcut if your lathe can

J

[Michael FodenParticipant @michaelfoden39595]

Thanks, Jason. There is a centre hole at the end of each tap, but I did not think that this method would be accurate enough. I sure did not do it this way a few years ago.

Anyway, thanks for the advice, I'll try it out on some spare material first.

Mike.

[Author]

Posts