# Added A Trav A Dial To My Craftsman 101.27430 Lathe



## ksierens (Dec 21, 2016)

Just finished adding a Trav (A) Dial to my Craftsman 12"x 24" lathe, and thought I would share some pictures in case anyone else was thinking about doing this.  I was very lucky to get this one at a great price, wish I could afford to put them on all my machines.  Love keeping my toys old school, without DRO's, since I do not make a living with them.


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## Billh51 (Dec 21, 2016)

Man, what a nice professional looking job, not to mention the excellent photography. It looks just like it belongs there and I'm sure will function quite well. Job well done.


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## Mondo (Dec 21, 2016)

Beautiful!  Well done!


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## chips&more (Dec 21, 2016)

That loooooks GREAT!


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## Randall Marx (Dec 22, 2016)

Color me jealous! Nice work.


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## 56type (Jul 1, 2017)

Really wish those were available for the Atlas 10100 Mk.2... Great job !! Looks factory original.


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## ksierens (Jul 1, 2017)

56type said:


> Really wish those were available for the Atlas 10100 Mk.2... Great job !! Looks factory original.


Thanks, I had a mk2, it would just be way to big for it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk


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## 56type (Jul 1, 2017)

ksierens said:


> Thanks, I had a mk2, it would just be way to big for it.
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk



Yeah, the Mk.2 headstock  shape is giving me fits trying to get a DI mounted carriage stop fitted to work close to the chuck. This is the closest I got, but it's too tight for the DI to fit. Can still use it as a stop with set screw & rod so it's not a total loss.


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## bfd (Jul 2, 2017)

nice job. did you adjust it? there is a rocker plate on the bottom of the trav a dial. but you already know that. if not I may be able to find my book that tells you how to adjust it . start a comversation with me if you need any help. if not just ignor this post except for the nice job part bill


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## dlane (Jul 2, 2017)

Wow .


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## wa5cab (Jul 2, 2017)

56,

My suggestion for solving the DI on the carriage stop question would be to mount possible a narrow piece of channel machined to fit on top of the front of the left leg, with the leg bolt holding it on.  That would give you a mounting point 2 or 3 inches to the left of where the typical carriage stop can move.

Another possibility that I actually did on my 3996 (late 12x36) was to mount the DI in what used to be a broken carriage stop that to use I attach to the rear edge of the front way to the right of the carriage.  The limitation of this is that if you back the carriage up enough it runs into the DI body.  But I minimized this problem by buying a DI with a 2" operating range.


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## 56type (Jul 3, 2017)

wa5cab said:


> 56,
> 
> My suggestion for solving the DI on the carriage stop question would be to mount possible a narrow  piece of channel machined to fit on top of the front of the left leg, with the leg bolt holding it on.  That would give you a mounting point 2 or 3 inches to the left of where the typical carriage stop can move.
> 
> Another possibility that I actually did on my 3996 (late 12x36) was to mount the DI in what used to be a broken carriage stop that to use I attach to the rear edge of the front way to the right of the carriage.  The limitation of this is that if you back the carriage up enough it runs into the DI body.  But I minimized this problem by buying a DI with a 2" operating range.



I'll look into that...The problem seems to be setting it up so that the head of the DI will fit with the face still visible. All the odd angles there at the headstock have the DI setting so far out that getting it to contact the carriage is an issue.


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## wa5cab (Jul 3, 2017)

First, the range of the dial indicator is 2.1" vice 5".  And although it will fit either way, last time that I used it, I put it on the rear edge of the front way.  But it will mount either way.  Because you have less space between the ways, you will probably have to scale everything down.  But as you can see from the photos below, the viewing angle is adjustable.  The cast body of the holder was originally a micrometer style carriage stop (maker unknown).  It was damaged and the home-made clamp bar didn't work.  The body was internally threaded part way through.  I made a threaded shoulder bushing from some scrap SS I had lying around and drilled it through to match the mounting tube of the DI.  After stud locking it into the cast body, I drilled and tapped a hole for the thumb screw.  It obviously does not have the range of a travel dial but within its limitations, works quite well.  I actually used it with a jury-rigged clamp while I was milling the clamp block.


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