Taper machine

J

JacobyToby

Registered
What is the best taper machine. I have looked into a few like mid-america, unique inc., and cue smith. Is there a top choice?
 
They work differently. The cue smith one is basically the taper part of the deluxe as a separate machine. Once you get that taper dialed in, it works fine. But you'll spend a fair bit of time setting it up and if you want to do multiple tapers, it's a bit cumbersome.
The Taper shaper is designed as a dedicated machine from the get go. Easy to use and very robust, changing tapers is a bit of a pain on this machine too, but there are some small workarounds that speeds things up, mounting dial indicators on each end of the bar is the best solution. It also has pre made grooves for points on the backside of the taper bar.
The mid-america one is a CNC type and when you get that dialed in, it's probably the easiest of the three, especially paired with Kelly's cue cut program.
The fourth option is to make one/have one made, seeing that you are gonna end up spending 3-4K, that's well within what a taper setup with a ballscrew/linear guide setup made from T-slot alu extrusion profiles and a watercooled spindle will cost. If you have a mill or a quality drill press, You can do all the machining for assembly yourself. You might have to pay someone for the electrical work, it all depends on your skill level.
I would do as much reading and research I could before I spent $$. Check out Kelly's programs, it takes a lot of the guesswork out of turning dowels, shafts and butts. Bob Dzuricky has some videos about it on YouTube.
 
Last edited:
Kim Bye said:
They work differently. The cue smith one is basically the taper part of the deluxe as a separate machine. Once you get that taper dialed in, it works fine. But you'll spend a fair bit of time setting it up and if you want to do multiple tapers, it's a bit cumbersome.
The Taper shaper is designed as a dedicated machine from the get go. Easy to use and very robust, changing tapers is a bit of a pain on this machine too, but there are some small workarounds that speeds things up, mounting dial indicators on each end of the bar is the best solution. It also has pre made grooves for points on the backside of the taper bar.
The mid-america one is a CNC type and when you get that dialed in, it's probably the easiest of the three, especially paired with Kelly's cue cut program.
The fourth option is to make one/have one made, seeing that you are gonna end up spending 3-4K, that's well within what a taper setup with a ballscrew/linear guide setup made from T-slot alu extrusion profiles and a watercooled spindle will cost. If you have a mill or a quality drill press, You can do all the machining for assembly yourself. You might have to pay someone for the electrical work, it all depends on your skill level.
I would do as much reading and research I could before I spent $$. Check out Kelly's programs, it takes a lot of the guesswork out of turning dowels, shafts and butts. Bob Dzuricky has some videos about it on YouTube.
Click to expand...
Multiple Taper bars for shafts eliminates it being cumbersome to change tapers.
 
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