I guess I would rather go with turning most of it off instead of filing.
I have tried filing curves and although they are definitely curved when finished, the curves I get from rectangular interpolation please me far and away more than hand filed ones.
Here's how I would do it. Step one is to put some Dykem (spotting blue or red) on the barrel around the end of the taper. Assuming you want the end of the taper to be at 2.062" diameter, I would set a caliper to that length and use it to mark the barrel through the blue. Unless you have a DRO on your lathe, you need to put a dial indicator on the bed such that it bears on the carriage so you can accurately measure the Z axis moves (the Z axis is the rotating axis even though it would otherwise be called the X axis--left-right.)
Now I would pick up the ring in the blue with the cutter you are going to use to cut the curve. Zero the crossfeed micrometer collar and set the indicator to the value representing that location from the list of numbers. For example, if your starting position is .950" from the end and the depth of cut is 0, then the indicator should read .950 and the crossfeed 0. Then back the carriage to the right clear of the work and dial in your first infeed, say .005"; then feed the carriage to the left until your reach the corresponding Z depth, say .943". Repeat the backing off, infeeding and cutting to the left through the table of numbers. You don't need to back off the crossfeed because that surface will be removed in the following cut.
Feel free to ask for more clarification if needed.
