Anyone Use This Bit Centering / Aligment Gadget?

[The Liberal Arts Garage]

Need I apologise If I bought it just because it'cute?..........BLJHB

 

[stupoty]

Use of the steel rule works in any situation. Just visually make sure the steel rule is vertical to the bed of the lathe.Why spend money when you don't need to?

I use some shim stock thats just thick enough to be rigid, mainly because i kept dropping the rullers in the swarf

Stuart

 

[Andre]

I agree with Bill, however if the lathe is tilted off the level plane (say 5 degrees) and you set it level maintaining tool parallelism with the top of the compound (Think: QCTP.) the rake and relief angles of the tool will be minutely affected. If you use a lantern toolpost, well then it's messed up anyways.

You will never, ever notice the difference between a theoretically perfectly level lathe and one off a little. A lathe off one degree is a rarity. For all intensive purposes it doesn't matter if your lathe is level.

 

[mikey]

The lathe does not need to be level for this tool to work. It does not need it. The vial level is only to let you know when you have hit dead center between the cutter and the work piece. It is not used as a level per-say. It just lets you know when you are straight.

"Billy G"

I don't own one but I have tried one that belonged to a friend. It works exactly as Bill says.

 

[RJSakowski]

If you read, what I had posted, I said in post #2

There is no reason it shouldn't work. ..... This of course assumes a level lathe. You would best adjust the height by another method and use that setting to "calibrate" your height adjustment tool.

. In post #14, I said

..... If you have leveled your lathe then fine, if not, I would calibrate the tool by checking a known good setup. (Actually, I would check it against a known good setup anyway because there is no guarantee that the tool is accurate out of the box)

.

While I was not able to find the operating instructions for this product, I did find an operating manual for a product using the same principle from www.edgetechnologyproducts.com (http://store-1wa94vq6.mybigcommerce...ual/pro_lathe_gage/pro_lathe_gage_manual.html)

"Level Calibration
• For optimum results this unit should be calibrated to compensate for machines that have not been accurately leveled.
• Position the base of the gage on a flat surface of the lathe such as the compound or cross slide. The unit should be perpendicular to the axis of spindle rotation as shown.

• After loosening the adjustment screw the level housing can be rotated until the bubble is centered in the vial."

An uncalibrated tool will give you consistent tool height settings for your lathe and, depending on how close to level it is , they may very well be within the range of uncertainties. All I said, was to verify it against a known good setup.

The vertical steel rule method used by many will shift the tool height up or down by .01" on a half inch diameter workpiece with an error in estimating the angle of a little over 2 deg. Visually sighting against a center can present errors of .01" without too much effort. Turning to a zero diameter tit on the face of a piece of work is probably the most accurate but again, I am not sure you can do much better than .01".

I have used all three of those methods for many years and in reality, setting a tool height to better than .01" is probably not at all necessary. So yes, the tool will work and I would use it myself. But, for my own piece of mind, I would verify the calibration.

Bob

 

[Bill Gruby]

Thank you.

"Billy G"

 

[chips&more]

The picture in this thread is from a fleabay sellers listing. And the irony is the seller is showing the thing being used incorrectly! If you really want one of these things. I would do an eBay search to get some ideas and then make one for yourself. I see one there that has an adjustable vial. Makes it kinda nice if your lathe is not level. You can calibrate that one to your lathe as it stands. And you thought you had the day off. Now you have a project…Dave.

 

[coolidge]

Gunrunner you need to order a set of these for the Z axis hand crank. Bill did you just spit coffee on your monitor? :rofl:

View attachment 253356

 

[RJSakowski]

Here's a centering tool someone on the forum invented and I copied their idea. This has worked out awesome. I calculated the center height for my lathe then turned this simple tool, easy to see even for my old worn out eyes. I set all my tool heights with this and they have been spot on ever since.

Tom Lipton from OxTool uses something similar. A further improvement would be to replace the upper cylinder with a dial indicator to read the offset amount. Even easier on the eyes. I have an old Ames dial indicator earmarked for that purpose.

Bob

 

[The Liberal Arts Garage]

If you read, what I had posted, I said in post #2
. In post #14, I said
.

While I was not able to find the operating instructions for this product, I did find an operating manual for a product using the same principle from www.edgetechnologyproducts.com (http://store-1wa94vq6.mybigcommerce...ual/pro_lathe_gage/pro_lathe_gage_manual.html)

"Level Calibration
• For optimum results this unit should be calibrated to compensate for machines that have not been accurately leveled.
• Position the base of the gage on a flat surface of the lathe such as the compound or cross slide. The unit should be perpendicular to the axis of spindle rotation as shown.

• After loosening the adjustment screw the level housing can be rotated until the bubble is centered in the vial."

An uncalibrated tool will give you consistent tool height settings for your lathe and, depending on how close to level it is , they may very well be within the range of uncertainties. All I said, was to verify it against a known good setup.

The vertical steel rule method used by many will shift the tool height up or down by .01" on a half inch diameter workpiece with an error in estimating the angle of a little over 2 deg. Visually sighting against a center can present errors of .01" without too much effort. Turning to a zero diameter tit on the face of a piece of work is probably the most accurate but again, I am not sure you can do much better than .01".

I have used all three of those methods for many years and in reality, setting a tool height to better than .01" is probably not at all necessary. So yes, the tool will work and I would use it myself. But, for my own piece of mind, I would verify the calibration.

Bob

Bob, level your lathe standing in as your conscience,..BLJHB