> Why is it, exactly, that tapered shafts which fit into tapered bores
> are such a royal pain the a** to disassemble?
It's somewhat similar to a wedge, the force exerted on the sides is far
higher than the force that drives the wedge/taper. Friction is directly
proportional to force, so at some point the assembly becomes self-locking.
Also, if enough force is applied to the spindle (or whatever) to deform the
vertical link (or whatever) slightly, the nut pulls the taper deeper into
the link, locking it even tighter. This process repeats as necessary, until
the locking force is greater than any applied force, which explains why they
get so jeezly tight on hard driven cars.
Locking tapers are used in many places, the British used to build radiators
and boilers that were held together only by tapers. My drill press holds
it's (roughly 10 pound) chuck suspended by a pair of locking tapers (and
nothing else).
Randall
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