Tailstock alignment buttons

[ncollar]

Sometimes there are thing that come up that just stir me. WE ARE NONE NASA ENGINEERS or will we be. A few thousands will not hurt anything.
When we look at blueprints they tell us how many of those "0" we can delete. Not everything has to be within 0.0002 - 0.0000
Nelson

[Floradawg]

Thanks Mklots,

I will make a set. When turning between centers I have always turned a 60 degree angle on a piece of round stock chucked up. It is the easiest way and like you said probably the most accurate. It helps to have a step on it to keep it from moving into the chuck.

[Paul Alciatore]

I know this is an old post, but it's a great idea. I am glad I ran across it. Thanks!

[mklotz]

I know this is an old post, but it's a great idea. I am glad I ran across it. Thanks!

Thanks, Paul. It's a great deal quicker than turning a test piece between centers, measuring the resulting taper, and then trying to calculate the required tailstock setover, set up a DI to measure the required movement and then repeat all this until no taper is turned.

Short tapers are best turned using the compound. For longer tapers, an offsetable (is that a word?) tailstock center is worth building if one has more than a few tapers to make. Once I have the tailstock aligned, I hate to offset it so the offsetable style appeals to me.

For the benefit of folks who may not be familiar with them, use Google Images with a search term of

offsetable tailstock center

to see pictures of what I'm on about. [Google seems to understand 'offsetable' so I guess it is a word.]

and, of course, Amazon sells them...

https://www.amazon.com/IMPROVED-TURN...%2C117&sr=8-35

https://www.amazon.com/Precision-Sha...%2C117&sr=8-36

[Floradawg]

Thanks, Paul. It's a great deal quicker than turning a test piece between centers, measuring the resulting taper, and then trying to calculate the required tailstock setover, set up a DI to measure the required movement and then repeat all this until no taper is turned.

Short tapers are best turned using the compound. For longer tapers, an offsetable (is that a word?) tailstock center is worth building if one has more than a few tapers to make. Once I have the tailstock aligned, I hate to offset it so the offsetable style appeals to me.

For the benefit of folks who may not be familiar with them, use Google Images with a search term of

offsetable tailstock center

to see pictures of what I'm on about. [Google seems to understand 'offsetable' so I guess it is a word.]

and, of course, Amazon sells them...

https://www.amazon.com/IMPROVED-TURN...%2C117&sr=8-35

https://www.amazon.com/Precision-Sha...%2C117&sr=8-36

Thanks for the links. I didn't know about these. Might buy the cheaper one.

[de witte smed]

totally agree with paulandreasen@gmail.com

[mklotz]

totally agree with paulandreasen@gmail.com

The fact that the ends are turned down is irrelevant to any accuracy concerns. No measurements are being made across the turned down sections.

The pieces were made from a single piece of cylindrical stock. However, before they were parted off, the stock was given a light cut to ensure that it was cylindrical (not all raw stock is cylindrical).

If you're not satisfied with the accuracy of this device, you should make or buy an alignment test bar...

https://www.edgetechnologyproducts.c...alignment-bar/

[Tooler2]

Sometimes there are thing that come up that just stir me. WE ARE NONE NASA ENGINEERS or will we be. A few thousands will not hurt anything.
When we look at blueprints they tell us how many of those "0" we can delete. Not everything has to be within 0.0002 - 0.0000
Nelson

A few thou often makes no difference when making a part. When making a precision Gage however even one thou off makes the tool useless.