Center Height Gauge for 820 -- What do you do?

I will point out that although a good AXA tool post is not cheap, 101 tool holders are. I have more than a dozen of them, most loaded with pre-centered cutters that I seldom use, but they are ready when needed.
 
Robert,
yes, I've been steadily adding to the crowd when I see them on sale, which definitely reduces the need for height measurement.
thanks.
Tim
 
Mike,
Reaching the point of a tool from over the cross-slide is not possible with the indicator stand I have, not by some inches. I have not yet invested in Noga, and my cheapo stand just doesn't go there.

What I meant was to see if you could perch a tool height gauge on the dovetail and then rotate the QCTP around so the tip of the tool reached the height gauge.

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Note that setting the cutter height does not have to be done with the piece that you are getting ready to whittle on. Having a short piece of 3/4" to 1" round that has been marked for the location of the #1 jaw and then had a cleanup pass done on it can then be used any time that you need to set the height of any cutter. You would use one of the bubble type setting indicators.
 
I have a piece of flat stock that I use to check center. I keep it with the lathe. I check a piece of round with a height gage. Divide half of stock and then have center.https://share.icloud.com/photos/0vk8cJuXvVs9R0aBHuIZqMNyA#Soulsbyville,_CA
 
I keep one of these at the lathe for setting tool height. Unlike a pillar gauge (that you can make with any piece of material that happens to be on hand), the square allows you to hang the gauge over the void between the ways. You can reach tools in a variety of positions. Lots of ways to skin this cat!

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What I meant was to see if you could perch a tool height gauge on the dovetail and then rotate the QCTP around so the tip of the tool reached the height gauge.
Mike, yes, I can do that but it's pushing the cross slide or compound as far as it goes to get enough purchase for a piece of round stock.
I'm super busy with my pen work right now (and have this day job thta somehow keeps me out of the shop until evening...), so built a pro tem device:
I touched my CCGT tool exactly on the tailstock taper, faced and skim-cut a piece of 1.5" aluminum round in the chuck with it, and touched the tailstock taper to the center point on the face to confirm. There was a match (and there had been no nub left before), so I aligned the tool on the center point, dialed it in a thou, just enough to leave a good horizontal scratch along the face, wound it back, and I now have a center height. It's much much better than the rod I was using before, which I had newbie-like not made sure was absolutely level. Its only drawback is that it only works in the chuck, which is progressively less necessary as I get tools aligned.

When I have time this fall I'll build a "Joe Pie" model, and maybe perch it on a square like Pontiac's above. Or I'll build one of the rounds with the embedded magnet and just stick it on the flat way.

Thanks!
Tim
 
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