I need terminology help

[contender1]

Ok,,, my feeble mind is not working as it should. About 35 years ago,, I graduated from a machinist course. But,,, I've only tinkered at it since,,, using friends equipment. Well, recently I bought a lathe. Well,, I should say I got an extremely good deal in a lathe to where I should have worn a mask.
Anyway,,, it came with a LOT of drill bits,,, reamers etc. All have the "Morse" type taper,,, WITH a flat "tang" to lock them into the tailstock of the lathe. Yet,,, the tailstock shaft has just the taper WITHOUT the slot for the tang to fit in.
I need to find & buy a different tailstock shaft,,, with the slot.

What is the correct terminology I need to use to look for this shaft?

My lathe is an older one,, not currently made,,, has the Craftsman plate on it,, but is made by Atlas. I've been on sleezbay,,, and found a lot of stuff,,, but before I buy anything,,, I need to know what I'm buying is correct.

Any help here?

[JimB..]

I don't know, but it'll probably have anti-rotation in it somewhere.

[HollowPoint]

I've never heard of a "Tail Stock Shaft." Are you referring to the Live-Center or Dead-Center with the morse taper to fit the tail stock? If so, I would think that all you'd have to know is the angle of the taper then look for the correctly tapered Live or Dead Center with the flat on the back end of it.

HollowPoint

[Ballistics in Scotland]

A lot of lathes, especially the small ones, don't have a slot for tang-ended Morse tooling. This is particularly common in the headstock, where it is desirable to have a hole all the way through, and tapered tools are often held by a drawbar. The Morse taper is gradual enough to be self-holding if the socket is clean, and this gives enough of a grip to break carelessly used small drills and reamers.

I would have thought your tooling and lathe would go together just fine. If they don't there is a slim chance - very slim - that one or other has one of the other machine tapers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_taper

[country gent]

The taper locks holds the tool, the tang on the end is so the boss on the end of the thread can remove it is all. If the spindle isn't holding the the tooling from spinning then its worn out and either needs replaced or reamed slightly deeper to clean it up. It used to be a practice on machines with worn tailstocks to use a lathe dog on the tool and support it on the compound. You maybe able to go the next size bigger morse taper or just ream a little deeper with the same size reamer to clean it up. A lot of the tooling we made at work didn't have a flat tang but used a round tange 3-8"-1/2" dia and 1/2-3/4" long. This allowed the boss on the spindle thread to "pop" it out. Twisting the tangs off of tooling is a sighn of worn tapers. Another thing to check is the height of the tailstock to the spindle. A lot of older machines tail stocks are low to the head stock due to wear on the bed up close to the head stock.2 points will show this or a pin in the tailstock chuck and indicator in head stock and indicatepin in you should get 0 bottom,0 front, 0 back, and amount out top.When we rebuilt a lathe in the shop we scraped the new wear pads in so tail stock was .002 high as wear on the freshly scraped and ground surfaces would drop a .011 or so pretty fast then it stayed there for years. We reamed the tailstocks tapers just enough to clean up any wear or replaced the spindle and started over ( we marked the spindle face with a prick nark every time we reamed one so we knew how many times it was reamed deeper). A new spindle can be made on the lather easy enough. we made one spindle with a 2" longer length and mounted a z axis read out to it for jobs with a precise depth needed. Made drilling to .001 depth easy. Machine had X,Y,Z, axis read outs.

[44man]

There is a difference between a Morse and an R8 or Jacobs. Morse has no slot. My lathe, mill uses a Morse in the tail stock but a Jacobs in the mill.

[ulav8r]

Lather is nothing but soap bubbles. The tailstock spindle on your machine does not need tanged drill bits but can use them. I think the Atlas/Craftsman uses a set screw point in a slot on the spindle to resist rotation. Using a dog on the shank would be wise for any drill larger than 1/2" diameter, and maybe a little smaller.

[Nueces]

I think the term you seek is "tailstock barrel."

[PaulG67]

The tailstock will eject the tool when you screw it back all the way.

[bob208]

I have a 9" southbend it does not have a tanged spindle. I have a 14 1/4" southbend the spindle is not tanged. I had a 12 atlas it did not have a tanged spindle. in fact all the lathes I have ever operated never had a tang in the tailstock spindle. the drillsare held in by friction and if you over power the drill or it grabs the drill will spin. save a lot of damage when that happens.

the tang is mostly for getting the drill bit out of the drill press or the adaptors. on a lathe you just crank the tail stock spindle all the way in the drill will pop out.

[17nut]

The "tail" is for dismantling on a drill or mill without damaging the MT. There is an oblong hole where you pound a wedge in to pop the MT-chuck out.
On a lathe you wind it all the way back and the MT-chuck pops out by itself.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

The use of a Morse taper reamer may well cure a worn and slipping tailstock taper. But you should check that the tailstock isn't hardened. I would first try a steel brush, like a bore brush but too scratchy, in case it is dirt or rust in the socket that is causing the problem.I used to have a small British Myford lathe in which the tailstock was bored all the way through, so that you had to knock out the tool with a metal rod. But it was useful on numerous occasions, and if you needed a firmer hold than ordinary friction you could always use a drawbar. I used a milling attachment on the saddle in those days, and for milling without the pressure drilling imposes, the Morse taper without a drawbar is liable to loosen. I'm still puzzled that more small lathes aren't made that way.

[contender1]

Thanks all. It's been a busy few days here & me getting back to this has been delayed until now.

Ok,, my tailstock shaft or,,, I guess the correct term is "barrel" is fine. It just doesn't have the slot to allow the tang of the MANY drills, reamers & such I got with the machine. I was thinking I needed a slotted barrel to use these bits & such. The barrel is a Morse Taper,,, and I'm sure it'll be just fine with them as long as they are the correct size & all, if clean & such.

I was just thinking I needed a slotted tail stock barrel to use these drills. My old & faded memory at work here. Or,, maybe the LACK of work! :D

And yes,,, I can unscrew the barrel to where it'll dislodge the bits easily.

Thanks to all who responded & offered help!!!!!!