When working on machining projects, you will almost certainly require a morse taper. The morse taper is essential for holding down your workpieces, and you’ll need to have the right one to get the job done. Read below to learn how to tell what size morse taper you need for your project.

What Is a Morse Taper

You use a morse taper to hold cutting instruments or tool holders in a machine tool or power tool spindle. A conical male member fits into the female socket that has an equal angle taper. The fit can hold each piece securely and impart the necessary torque without slippage after being taped together. Breaking the friction and separating them again requires a large amount of force, but not enough to prevent you from doing it while changing working heads or maintaining the machine.

What Are the Sizes

Morse tapers are available in eight sizes, with whole numerals ranging from 0 to 7, with one half-size of 4 1/2. The most common sizes for CNC machines are MT1, MT2, and MT3. People typically abbreviate the term as MT followed by a digit, for example, MT2 for a Morse taper number 2.

How To Measure Your Project

You'll need to know the MT size of your head and tailstock spindles to fit accessories like drive centers and drill chucks to your lathe. In most cases, both ends of a lathe will be the same size. You will also need to find a chart that gives the measurements of each Morse taper size. For example, an MT1 will have a large diameter of 0.4750 inches, a small diameter of 0.3690 inches, and a length of 2.0625 inches.

Once you have that ready, you will measure the large diameter of the hole where the taper fits into the machine with a caliper or other measuring device to calculate the Morse Taper size you'll need. The dimension may not match the sizes exactly but should correspond approximately to one of the options.

Once you've figured out how to tell what size morse taper you need for your project, you will be ready to begin. DZ Sales LLC can help provide high-quality tools, such as a morse taper socket, that you need to complete virtually any machining job. Feel free to contact us with any questions about products.