Update August 1st, 2004
The lathe as it comes, consists of the steel topped, concrete filled aluminum
extrusion bed, the carriage (x axis travel), the crosslide (y axis travel),
the ball bearing headstock, toolpost for 1/4" bits, and the depth stop for
the carriage. Generally one buys the lathe, tailstock, pulley set, one or
several chucks, and motor for a complete lathe.
The kit is identical to the assembled unit, except that assembly with provided
wrenches, and lapping in of the slides (with cleanser, such as Bon Ami)
is performed by the customer. It provides an excellent opportunity to learn
how the lathe is put together.
The WW spindle option allows one to use WW style watchmakers collets on the Taig. WW collets are expensive, and Taig doesn't sell them, but if you do watch & clock work, or very small turning, you most likely will want them. This option has the same 3/4-16 spindle threads, but the Taig collets and the dril chuck arbor will not work in this spindle.
A 1/4hp motor which is the optimum size for this lathe. Note than many less expensive motors are available on the surplus market. This motor is currently supplied with a cord or switch, prewired. There is no discount on motors.
1022 $5.00 Motor mount bracket with necessary hardware, fits above ,motors
and nema 48 frame motors.
Basically a metal plate, drilled for nema 48 bolt hole mounting, which hinges
on two screws set into the mounting board.
The mounting boards are simple pieces of laminated particle board, predrilled
for mounting the Taig in one of the two configurations. Generally the 1023
is recommended with the 1021W motor.
The depth stop mounts in the spindle bore, and is used to provide a stop
for work when held in a chuck. This allows a number of pieces to be faced
or turned in the same place, referencing off of the stop.
The 4 jaw chuck is the most versatile chuck. It can hold round stock with absolute accuracy when used in conjunction with a dial indicator, can hold stock eccentric to it's center for making eccentrics, can chuck square and rectangular stock, for turning and facing, often faster than a mill could accomplish it. The jaws are reversable and capable of a wide range of grip. If you can only buy one chuck, get this one insteadof the 3 jaw chuck.
1034 $9.25 Lathe Dog for turning between centers
A clamp style lathe dog for use in turning between centers
The Face Plate is a 3.25" diameter steel disc which mounts on the headstock
of the lathe. It has a t-slot running across the center of the face. Work
can be held with home made hold downs, using either the t-slots, or by tapping
holes in the faceplate.
Used for holding work to the faceplate, the angles are true right angles
for all sorts of setup options.
Used to mount blocks of wood to the lathe, they are undrilled, and may
be drilled to suit the user.
The collets set is used for chucking small diameter rods of the diameters
listed. The collet set allows speed and accuracy in those ranges. stock
can be fed through the headstock into the collet for production work. They
are also used for holding endmills, burrs and router bits in milling operations.
The blank collets are for making sizes not manufactured by Taig. They are
difficult to slit, especially if one does not have access to a milling machine,
but can be used advantageously in special operations. They can also be modified
to function as a headstock center, or a depth stop.
This is a simple three jaw chuck, a lever inserted in the chuck body moves
the jaws open and closed, guided by an internal scroll. Unlike most small
lathe chucks, it has aluminum soft chuck jaws. For general use, a small
washer (supplied) is held in the back of the chuck jaws to take up scroll
backlash, and the jaws are bored to run true. Any three jaw chuck will never
be without runout at all possible diameters, due to variabilities in wear
on the scroll mechanism. It will run exactly true at the diameter that the
jaws are bored out to. Thus for repetitive chucking work, the chuck can
be bored for that size and be just as accurate as a collet chuck. Also steps
can be machined for larger work, discs and the like. They can even be drilled
and tapped for stops, or hold downs for odd shaped work. Extra Jaws are
available, as are "full circle" or "pie" jaws which can be used for holding
thin, delicate disc shapes with minimal distortion from clamping pressure.
The 4 jaw self centering scroll chuck is identical to the 3 jaw chuck,
except it has 4 jaws 90 degrees apart. For woodworking and production chucking
of square stock. It uses the same soft jaws as the 3 jaw chuck, and can
be bored or turned for special workholding. It is the same chuck sold by
Carbatech and other wood lathe manufacturers.
An accurate rugged 1/4" capacity jacobs chuck, for the most demanding small
work.
These three chucks, while not quite as rugged at the commercial duty chuck,
all will hold drills in their range accurately. These are the chucks most
commonly used on electric drills.
A 6 piece set of high speed steel tools, manufactured by Taig, which will
do most of the ordinary tasks on the lathe. They are good for the amateur
as they serve as models for general tool griding. They are available separately
as well.
I don't generally recommend these accessories for the lathe, as they are
primarily used by those making a small tablesaw attachment for the lathe.
For most work it is better to buy a blank arbor and less than 1.5" diameter
slitting saw for work on the milling attachment. They do work well on the
Taig milling machine.
This turns your Taig into a very small bench grinder, useful for minor
sharpening of toolbits and drills. It is imperative to cover every surface
of the lathe when using this accessory, as grit will ruin any lathe quickly.
It would be better to buy a standalone grinder, if you have the money and
space.
This blank arbor is tapped 10-32 in the center, and provided with a matching
washer. It can be machinied to perform a myriad of workholding tasks, and
is easily made into a saw, grinding or milling arbor. Made of free machining
steel for easy turning.
This is similar to 1130, but is untapped, and can be easily machined to
make arbors, endmill holders, flycutters, and similar accessories.
By mounting this arbor on the headstock (registering in the collet taper)
Drill chucks may be held on the Taig for drilling work mounted on the crosslide
or milling attachment, and for using small burs and buffs like a polishing
lathe.
A lever action (quicker than a screw feed) tailstock, which has an integral
dead center, and a 3/8-24 thread for drill chucks. The tailstock my be offset
for turning tapers, and the adjustment can be used to align the tailstock
as well.
Quickly replacing the ordinary tailstock ram, the live center will work
at high speeds without burning (as the dead center may do at high speeds).
It is spring loaded so that work may be quickly replaced, and that pressure
can be adjusted. It can also be used as a tapping guide.
For making threads on studs and shafts, the die holder aligns the die with
the work, so that reasonably concentric threads can be cut by hand. It rides
along a shaft which mounts to the tailstock ram.
The pulley set comes with two matched pulleys of six steps, providing a
speed range between 500-5000 rpm with a 1725 rpm motor. Depending on the
motor you use (3/8" or 1/2" shaft) and where you mount the motor, you will
need either belt. The pulley sets can be mix and match as well, if you need
pulleys for another application, or want a longer belt with set 1161, etc.
I have never needed to replace my original belts, but some customers like
to have a spare on hand.
Generally if the motor is behind the lathe, you want the long belt, and
if it is to the left of the lathe, the short belt. Currently the motor Taig
ships uses the longer belt for setup. Belt length is important, always
specify which one you want.
Having an extra tool post means that you can leave bits shimmed to the
perfect height and simply swap toolposts to change tools - a great convenience.
The easiest way to part work off on the lathe, as the back toolpost creates
a more rigid mounting due to the physics of a dovetail slide. Also for production
work, one can use both toolposts, turning and parting without stopping the
lathe.
1173 $25.60 T-Bar cutoff tool, height adjustable.
An excellent accessory! The all steel tool body mounts a t-section cutoff
tool upside down. The slot is cut at an angle so that the tool can be adjusted
to be exactly on center. It is used, like the back toolpost, behind the
work. Very rigid.
A slide which mounts on top of the crosslide, that can be set to travel
at any angle, for cutting tapers and tapered bores in the workpiece. The
toolbit mounts directly on top of the slide with a provided clamp. The compound
can slip if heavy cuts are taken, due to the mounting, and a piece of thin
typing paper between the compound and crosslide will generally prevent this.This
slide can also be used for making custom machines and fixtures.
The radius turning tool will turn ball ends on rods up to 3/4" diameter. It is not good for much else however, and the design of the tool leaves much to be desired. In use the workpiece must project 1.375" out from the face of the chuck jaws, to make room for the attachment, this can cause chatter, so light cuts must be taken. With work that can be held in collets this amount is reduced, so for putting ball ends on rods 5/16" and less it is more rigid. It will only do 1/2 balls, not full ball ends, so you can't use it to make ball cranks, ball joints, etc. For these projects, Joe Osborn's excellent tool, or a home made one is recommended. Only buy this if you need to just put half balls on the ends of rods.
This is a vertical slide, similar to the crosslide, for adding a third
axis to the Taig (z axis) Work can be mounted on the slide, either with
the simple vise blocks, screws or hold downs, and milling and drilling operations
performed on it, using the headstock to drive the tool. The milling attachment
can be adapted to most smaller lathes and used for custom work.
The Chuck adapter is a dummy Taig spindle nose that mounts on a Taig t-slot,
so that if you have work mounted in the four jaw, you can then mount the
four jaw on the milling slide and use an end mill in the headstock to mill
a slot in it. You can also use it mounted on the faceplate as an eccentric
chuck, although only at the slowest speed with small workpieces, and counterbalance
weights opposing the eccentricity. You can also mount a drill in the dummy
spindle nose, and use the carriage to move the drill (after centering it
with the vertical and crosslide adjustments) allowing drill feed of any
length (need to drill 6" deep holes, even my drill press won't do it).There
are a thousand situations where the chucks can be used as bench vises, in
engraving etc.
The Milling Vise is a nice little vise that fits on the milling slide (or
any other Taig t-slot) I was going to suggest on my page that people buy
Palmgren's smallest drill press vise, but it is much too large for the Taig
slide, so it's great that Taig sells these now.
These are small double ended endmills which can be held with the collet
set, and used with the milling attachment
The riser blocks raise the center up one inch, providing a greater turning radius. These are not to be used for heavy work, but perform well making wheels, gear blanks and similar forms. they can also be modified to make accessories which clamp to the bed, or to mount the headstock to other machines.