International Taper

[Uzzy]

Can anyone hepl me? I have come across refrences to something called "International Taper " what does this mean, I am looking at a milling machine that has a No 3 Taper for Horizontal milling am I right in thinking that this refers to a No 3 morse taper.

[ChrisCrosskey]

International Tapers are part of a family of tapers that can be referred to as non-sticking. The taper is quite broad and is there to ensure proper alignment, the drive is handled by a pair of cutouts in the collar of the tool fitting driving dogs in the head and you must use a drawbar to lock the tool in the head. THe commonest sizes are INT40 and INT30, INT40 is very common on industrial tools but is a bit big for hobbiest usage, but if you can get a machine with it then immense quantities of cheap tooling can be found on ebay

Morse tapers are locking tapers and they are designed with a very shallow taper angle that jams up in the head so that for light-duty things it shouldn't need a drawbar. For milling it will always need a drawbar anyway so there are two sorts of mores tooling. Some has a threaded bit at the end for a drawbar and some doesn't, Morse taper 3 is a common size, you should be able to find drills up to a bit over an inch, milling chucks aren't hard to find (lots of Pozilock on ebay) ....

chrisc

[Uzzy]

Chris,

Thanks for this I suppose I will have to ask the question about the horizontail milling and see what international it would be as it can't be a No 3!

[Uzzy]

As a guide no3 Morse taper sleeve fits the taper well(with the end part cut off).
The horizontal shaft does have a hole all the way through, possibly for fastening the arbour in place??
The vertical definitely takes no2 Morse taper tooling.
This was the reply from the seller of this particular machine. Can anyone shed any light by this discription as to what Int'l Taper it could be.
Many thanks in advance

[Allan Waterfall]

You don't say what machine it is,but this site might give you the information.

www.lathes.co.uk/page21.html

I'm not sure,but I would have thought that if the vertical is a No.2 Morse taper,the horizontal will more than likely be No.3 Morse taper.

Allan