quick way to center bar stock

[irishwoodsman]

when i first got my lathe,i was fighting my self when trying to center my stock in the chuck, so what i did was use my tailstock with a center in it with a really fine point then i would use the blueing dye and then mark the center of my bar stock, that would get me dialed in to about 3000ths then it was easier for me to use the dial indicator to dial it on in. since then i made some smaller groves on the face of my chuck[roughly 1/16 apart i use them then tail stock and then indicator. takes me about 6 minutes to dial in my stock, being a newbie this works great but i know you pro's can do it in just a few minuteshew:

 

[irishwoodsman]

when i first got my lathe,i was fighting my self when trying to center my stock in the chuck, so what i did was use my tailstock with a center in it with a really fine point then i would use the blueing dye and then mark the center of my bar stock, that would get me dialed in to about 3000ths then it was easier for me to use the dial indicator to dial it on in. since then i made some smaller groves on the face of my chuck[roughly 1/16 apart i use them then tail stock and then indicator. takes me about 6 minutes to dial in my stock, being a newbie this works great but i know you pro's cant do it in just a few minuteshew:

pro's can do it in cple minutes

 

[irishwoodsman]

when i first got my lathe,i was fighting my self when trying to center my stock in the chuck, so what i did was use my tailstock with a center in it with a really fine point then i would use the blueing dye and then mark the center of my bar stock, that would get me dialed in to about 3000ths then it was easier for me to use the dial indicator to dial it on in. since then i made some smaller groves on the face of my chuck[roughly 1/16 apart i use them then tail stock and then indicator. takes me about 6 minutes to dial in my stock, being a newbie this works great but i know you pro's can do it in just a few minuteshew:

wow theres a edit button i can use, just seen that :nuts:

 

[irishwoodsman]

Irishwoodsman,

Is this a four jaw chuck?

DaveH

oh yea they say these are harder to do than the 3 jaw but i dont have a 3 jaw so i don't know lol

 

[irishwoodsman]

3 jaw, put it in tighten the chuck and off you go, 10 seconds.


DaveH

wow thats great will be watching ebay for one:biggrin: mm maybe santa will come early lol

 

[Joe in Oz]

A trick I've read or seen somewhere is to use TWO chuck keys in 4-jaw chucks and always move both opposing jaws simultaneously and evenly with a dial indicator touching the workpiece. It was siad to be a few-second-long 3 step operation: centering 90deg apart just once and check once more.
PS: Have a look at [video=youtube;2KMhx4DbyDg] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KMhx4DbyDg [/video] for a demo.
Cheers,
Joe

 

[irishwoodsman]

A trick I've read or seen somewhere is to use TWO chuck keys in 4-jaw chucks and always move both opposing jaws simultaneously and evenly with a dial indicator touching the workpiece. It was siad to be a few-second-long 3 step operation: centering 90deg apart just once and check once more.
PS: Have a look at [video=youtube;2KMhx4DbyDg] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KMhx4DbyDg [/video] for a demo.
Cheers,
Joe

he makes it look easey but its not at least not for me lol i made that extra chuck out of my snap-on 3/8s short extension lol but i do it pretty quick now with the procedure i use but i'm going to invest in a good 3 jaw chuck probally a 6" i have the sheldon 8" 4 jaw being a 1941 model i had to take the jaws and clamp them all together and grind a tad to get it back in tune and that probably helped alot. youtube is how i learn't how to grind my bits, Mr pete has some good vids:biggrin:

 

[irishwoodsman]

he makes it look easey but its not at least not for me lol i made that extra chuck out of my snap-on 3/8s short extension lol but i do it pretty quick now with the procedure i use but i'm going to invest in a good 3 jaw chuck probally a 6" i have the sheldon 8" 4 jaw being a 1941 model i had to take the jaws and clamp them all together and grind a tad to get it back in tune and that probably helped alot. youtube is how i learn't how to grind my bits, Mr pete has some good vids:biggrin:

there was one vid i seen of a jig to mount on your compound and you attach your indicator to it, it works great if your compound screw has a tad of slop in it instead of going by your dial you watch your indicator and there is even one you mount on your tailstock if you really need the exact depth of a hole being drilledhew: