FILENAMES: Taper_1.jpg Taper_2.jpg Taper_3.jpg Taper_4.jpg Taper_5.jpg DESCRIPTION: These are pictures of a shop made taper attachment for an Atlas lathe. Posted by Randy Howard . Randy provided the following description: ================================================================= 10/31/00 The following photos show a taper attachment I made for a Craftsman (Atlas) 12 X 36 lathe. The hardened Vee rails and rollers were bought from the manufacturer, Bishop Wisecarver. The attachment works surprisingly well and, although not an extremely precise unit, it is still capable of decent work, even on steel. The extra long length makes it unique and suitable for turning long reamers and shallow tapers. Two pictures show the carriage assembly that rolls on the guide rails. It is made from 4340 steel, although mild steel would probably work just as well. Two of the rollers are adjustable for position via eccentric bushings and one is fixed. This allows precise setting of preload between rollers and guide rails. Missing in these pics is the 3/8" strap that connects the roller carriage to the cross feed slide. Note that this strap must be slotted so that it can be adjusted to the diameter of the stock being turned. The other pictures show how the guide rail is mounted to the lathe. These parts are from the original Atlas taper attachment but would be simple to fabricate from scratch. There is no need for a degree scale and the mounts could be made less artistically and more rigid by using a modern design. The core piece for mounting the hardened rails to is a piece of cold rolled 4340 that was surprisingly straight and did not require grinding. Randy Howard