Measuring cuts lengthwise?

[LarryJ]

Have you never made a part longer then 1"?

For speed and ease of use a DRO is the way to go for the Z axis.
If one requires more Z accuracy the rod and micrometer head stop as used on jig bore machines is an excellent choice, fussy however and very few lathes are so equipped, choose wisely.
A very high end DRO will probably get you to where you need to be unless you are chasing tenths.

Cost wise, there is the mag-based dial indicator, a shop-made base for said indicator, or a thousand for a DRO. Newbs like me generally go with the mag base DI for under $25 _first_. To measure more than 1", set up, move he carriage, then reset the DI. It takes maybe a minute per extra inch and saves $975, WreckWreck.

Also, beginners are unlikely to have tight new machines capable of doing repetitive work in tenths, but could probably happily stumble upon it on occasion. That's the way I've always done it. <toothless grin>

 

[LarryJ]

Stefan Gotteswinter made a pretty cool indicator mount for his lathe that uses a cam lock lever. Seen @ 20:38

And Randy Richard recently made an interesting mag mount digital scale for his lathe. If interested there's also a follow up video as well as one that he made for his tail stock.

Wow, information density in Stefan's video was spectacular. Great vid!

 

[Bob Korves]

It is well worth subscribing to Stefan's channel. It is one of the best.

 

[marchyman]

I made a cam lock indicator holder for my previous lathe. A cheap mag indicator holder works fine for my current mini-lathe.

 

[Silverbullet]

My first lathe used to make money was an old Sheldon. I made a stop on my drill press for it. I used a 1" x 3" x 2". I drilled a 1/2" hole thru the 3" length about 1" from the edge. Stepping up from 1/8" to 1/2" three drilling total. Then I found where I could mount it on the head stock using existing threaded holes two are needed. Drilled those to clearance to mount the block . Using a 1/2" x 12" steel rod my stop was almost done a 1/4" -20 hole drilled thru the side into the 1/2" hole made my stop adjustment. At the end of the rod I drilled a 1/4" hole for a stud to mount dial indicator , or stop block. As long as you stop power feed and hand finish it will recut every time to the stop. No mill needed to make a usefull stop.

 

[Rustrp]

I was told that a man who claims to have never made a mistake, quite likely never made anything.

I'll add; I was told that a mistake was something that couldn't be fixed. When the result turns out not being what I was attempting to achieve I save it for a later date when the application fits.

 

[Wreck™Wreck]

Cost wise, there is the mag-based dial indicator, a shop-made base for said indicator, or a thousand for a DRO. Newbs like me generally go with the mag base DI for under $25 _first_. To measure more than 1", set up, move he carriage, then reset the DI. It takes maybe a minute per extra inch and saves $975, WreckWreck.

Also, beginners are unlikely to have tight new machines capable of doing repetitive work in tenths, but could probably happily stumble upon it on occasion. That's the way I've always done it. <toothless grin>

It was a joke, the thought of turning 50 inch long parts one inch at a time made me laugh a good deal, no offence intended, do what you have to do to make it work.

 

[blu73]

I just looked at most of the posts in this subject and it's possible I missed what I'm about to say, so please bear with me if I repeat what someone else has already said.

I just finished doing work that required me to make a lot of parts on a lathe where I needed to stop the cut at four inches in Z. I had a lot of success with a one inch travel indicator mounted on a magnet and stuck to the bed near the head stock. Once I established the four inch stopping point on the first part, I put the indicator on the bed and positioned it against the saddle with five turns of the travel used up on the dial. I then moved to my starting point. got everything going, and engaged the feed lever. All I had to do then was watch for the saddle to get close to the rod of the indicator and once it was contacted, just count five revolutions of the needle. When it got to the fifth turn, I disengaged the half nut at zero and could do it within plus or minus .001 consistently.

Okay, with that being said, I feel I need to let everyone know that this is my first posting here and I don't really know the protocol, so I will sign off with my first name only.

Russ

 

[brino]

Okay, with that being said, I feel I need to let everyone know that this is my first posting here and I don't really know the protocol, so I will sign off with my first name only.

Hi Russ,I'm glad to see you jumping into the discussions.
Welcome to the Hobby Machinist!
-brino