On Mar 28, 11:45*pm, wrote:

I have wondered about this - reluctant to spent heaps on a tool I
would use but infrewuently. Any other method that can be done with
handy household appliances?

Andrew VK3BFA.

Just guessing, maybe if you attached an indicator to the end of a
piece of pipe, chucked it short and centered the dead center by the
tailstock offset, then slid the tailstock back where it belongs and
recentered the dead center by shimming the bed.

Pipe sags less than solid rod. Even though you're measuring the sides
there will be some horizontal error component from vertical deflection
if the indicator tip isn't exactly at center height, which is hard to
judge or measure as you rotate the spindle, and the closer you set it
to the point the worse the error.

If the lathe is near a door or window you could lay a telescope with
crosshairs (we use them on rifles) on the bed and line up both ends
with some distant object.

Jim Wilkins