"Paul T." wrote in message
...

snip----

Let's see if anybody else has a tip for faster centering.

Paul T.

There's a very simple way to get the work within a half-thou without a dial
indicator.

It's not that the indicator isn't easy to use, or more accurate than this
method, but the extra few minutes you might spend setting it up and tearing
it down before machining are often just "lost time" when you don't need that
accuracy. A mag base might make it quicker, but some small vee-bed lathes
don't even have a convenient place for the base-- not even on the
cross-slide.

For round or square work -- Instead of the run-out gauge, just move your
tool as close to the "high" side of the work as you can get it without
touching. Rotate the work 180, adjust by eyeball to eliminate about 1/2 of
the gap. Run the tool in again to whatever has become the high side, and
repeat, halving the error each time. In three or four iterations, you'll
have the tool pulling swarf over two thirds-or-so of the circumference of
the work. By then it's within a thou or less of centered, and ready for any
rough surfacing.

Just quicker... that's all. A bright, narrow-beam work light helps see the
gap.

LLoyd