Tip 45—An indicator stand for the lathe--Jim Knighton

 

(L) An indicator stand is turned on the lathe using a 4-jaw chuck. (R) The stand mounts to the crosslide table using standard T-nuts. (Click on image to view a larger version.)

There are lots of ways to mount dial indicators on the lathe, but after looking at the hints and tips on the Sherline site I haven't seen anything quite like the setup I use. The attached photos illustrate an attractive, sturdy and very effective setup that might be of interest, especially to novices and beginners.

One photo shows the stand assembled and in use. The other photo shows the finished base while it is still in the independant 4-jaw chuck, illustrating how it was machined. The holes for the t-nuts that mount the base to the cross slide were drilled before the blank was machined, but the hole for the upright post was machined on the lathe as part of this setup. (The 3/16" T-slot holes are 1.5" on center to match the distance between the Sherline T-slots on the lathe table.)

The upright post is a short length (about 3.5") of 1/2" drill rod secured in the base with Locktite, and the horizontal rod is about 6" of 3/8" drill rod. The lengths of both are arbitrary and not critical. These diameters were chosen to match the commercially available swivel joints, or "snugs" selected for this project. These parts are available at modest cost from industrial suppliers such as MSC and Enco in both English and Metric sizes.

All in all, this is a simple and satisfying project that mounts on the crosslide and nicely complements the Sherline lathe.

--Jim Knighton

An additional suggestion from William Bassett...

Here is a tip that expands on the holder detailed by Jim Knighton above. Instead of mounting it to the lathe table, Mr. Bassett offers the following suggestion:

"Every lathe must be mounted on a base--usually wooden. Woodworking stores such as Rockler (www.rockler.com) and Woodcraft (www.woodcraft.com) sell aluminum extrusions that allow you to install "T" tracks into grooves (dados) made with either a router or dado head on a table saw. I installed extruded aluminum T-slots flush with my wood lathe base and it allows me to easily mount such things as a light, magnifier or any other device you may think of, including Mr. Knighton's indicator holder."

—William Bassett, Clearwater, FL

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