"Lobby Dosser" wrote: (clip) Can you please explain
in more detail (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Certainly--I am delighted. I have a laser pointer mounted to a solid part
of my lathe by means of some parallel linkage. This holds the beam
vertically, and allows me to move it along the work, or across the work.
This is much like the laser guidance that is used for hollow turning, but it
is mounted to the lathe frame, rather than the tool.

Step 1: I turn my first piece in the normal way, shaping it to get what I
want.
Step 2: I position my laser bean on an important point on the piece, such
as the bottom of a cove or notch, or the top of a curve.
Step 3: I insert each of the other blanks, one at a time, and shape them to
match the one I already have done.
Step 4: I reinsert my original piece, and reposition the laser at another
salient point.
Step 5 and on: I do steps 3 and 4 until I'm done.

I usually have to go over each piece and sort of blend the cuts to eliminate
any bad transitions, and I'm done. I didn't need to use calipers, and I
didn't have to keep checking to make sure I didn't over cut any part. If
you put a white card on the ways, below the cut, the laser beam will start
to show as you approach the correct diameter. I consider the cut is
finished when the shape on the white card matches the shape and size I had
when I adjusted the beam to my pattern piece. I find that I can get things
within a few thousandths. Remember that no one is likely to hold the pieces
close together for comparison, so they don't have to be perfect.

Let me know if any part of this is still not clear.