I cranked out a simple taper bar within a week of getting my lathe.
It was crude & I intended to upgrade it once I got all the necessities
out of the way but you know how that goes. It worked so well, I
left it untouched for almost 10 years. Then I saw the clever way
some others mounted their bar & it encouraged me to work on a new set
up.
![](images/taper-attachment/taper02a_small.jpg)
My original set up had a huge vertical misalignment between the cross
slide and the taper bar. Sure, it worked - but logic says that the
closer they are in alignment, the smoother & more efficient they will
be.
![](images/taper-attachment/taper10_small.jpg)
These were the components needed to attach the taper bar base to the
ways of my lathe.
![](images/taper-attachment/taper11_small.jpg)
This bottom view of the taper bar base shows the range of adjustment I
have to pivot the bar.
![](images/taper-attachment/taper12_small.jpg)
This phantom view shows how the clamp mounts to the ways and how the
base mounts to the clamp.
![](images/taper-attachment/IMG_2324a_small.jpg)
In the left picture, you can see the pivot point of the linear rail.
The rail is installed in the next picture. I can now pivot the
rail easily about the center until I have the desired taper, then lock
it down.
![](images/taper-attachment/taper15_small.jpg)
Now I can attach the cross slide the taper bar. The Heim joint
provides a simple method of connecting the cross slide to the taper bar
while maintaining almost zero slop.
![](images/taper-attachment/IMG_9881a_small.jpg)
It's easy to see how much nicer the alignment is now. The taper
bar is now smoother than ever.