"Karl Townsend" wrote in message
...
I need to make a pin .25" long by .096" diameter with a 0.109 by
0.117
head. It needs to be hard so I'll make it out of a 7/64 drill bit,
the
size of the head.

What's a clever way to hold this in the lathe? it would be hard to
make soft jaws go down this small. I'm thinking some sort of
collapsible bushing that I'd drill.

Karl

Stick it in a drill chuck. You could grab the drill chuck in the lathe
chuck or maybe fit the tailstock chuck to the spindle with a
live-center sleeve.

Jacobs ball-bearings chucks work pretty well on a lathe spindle. I
leave a 1/2" 33B on my 6" lathe and have a 58B on the indexer, and
made an adapter to fit it to the South Bend.
http://www.armurerieduroi.com/pages/...ck_jacobs.html
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb...img_6732-2.jpg

In one of their pamphlets SB says the chuck was meant for refinishing
automotive valves and shouldn't be used for heavy turning.

jsw