"Steve" wrote in message
...
I have an old Craftsman lathe that one of my neighbors left out on the
curb. He (or she) also left the tools that came with it. After sharpening
the tools, I found the lathe works just fine, and I'm having fun with it.

I got a 4 jaw chuck very cheap on ebay, along with some new ( much needed
M2) centers. The chuck is an older one, and the jaws move independently!?

So the question... is there an easy way to center work piece in the jaws?

I thought perhaps I could turn one round piece with a small centered round
section to fit in the center screw hole (to find the first center), and
then additional rings to fit on that... to help me get the jaws at least
close to center somewhere near the diameter of the part I want to hold
(does anyone get what I'm trying to say?).

Thanks for any advice!

Steve
=================
Steve,
Since you say you have "centers", I'm assuming you mean some sort of drive
center. If that's the case, start off between centers and turn a tenon on
the headstock end. This shouold be long enough for a 1/2 inch or more from
the chuck. then center the piece as well as you can by eye, rotating it by
hand. Then start the lathe at it's slowest speed. Using a sharp pencil,
SLOWLY bring the pencil up near the tenon until it barely makes contact.
Turn off the lathe. Locate the pencil mark. That will be the high point on
your tenon. Loosen the jaws opposite the mark and tighten the jaws on the
pencil mark side Repeat until you have it as centered as you want. However,
if you remove the piece, you will have a VERY difficult time recentering.
It's slow, but it will work.

Ken Moon
Webberville, TX.