Magnetic + dti + base + recommendations

Having gone over to a independent 4 jaw chuck for most of my work I think I need to upgrade my magnetic base for the dti. Currently I have an old school double clamp arrangement that works like a school science lab stand. I works but is fiddly to set up. I like the look of the eclipse e910 or similar. Any recommendations?

I have no idea what you get for that sort of money, but I have several (in a couple of sizes) of the £20-30 ones which look the same and are available from amazon and the auction sites. They work well for my purposes.

I keep the arm from one mounted on a tool post on top of my Taig lathe headstock with a DTI attached. It works extremely well for centring in the four jaw.

Edited for typo!

Edited By Peter Cook 6 on 12/06/2022 17:53:59

ArcEurotrade or the Dasqua 60 or 80 kg ones both work fine for me - and are much, much cheaper..

For lathe-work I tend to use either a bar-mount held in the toolpost, or occasionally one on a post bolted to the back of the cross-slide..

For truing up work in a four jaw, I go for the lever type indicator rather than the plunger dti.

It depends very much on what I'm trying to true up, and on which lathe.
On the Myford, or small Warco lookalike, I use a small diameter plunger set horizontally in the QD toolpost.

I also made a small spare chuck key, so I have the normal one at the front and the little one at the back of the 4 jaw.
It makes getting concentricity a doddle.
First do it by eye with the lines on the chuck face, then clock the workpiece next to jaw 1, zero the dial, clock @ jaw 3, move the workpiece half the difference.
Repeat for jaw 2 or 4 to the same reading, after one pass like that, it will be within a couple of thou, so one more run through will set you set up ready to go.

re mag bases, I have a couple of genuine M&W push button ones, as well as a clone.
All work equally well.
As my fingers are getting older and less strong, I find myself using the cheap imported ones with a rotary switch more often; they work well enough after the bases have been lapped on a bit of fine wet & dry.

For support arms, I use both the style you describe, as well as those with a couple of ball joints and a central knob. though they are a bit less rigid, and arguably better suited to lever, rather than plunger clocks.

Bill.

Most of the time, I use a Finger clock for centering work in the 4 Jaw.

I gave away my Magnetic base with an "Adjustable" linkage.

the old non adjustable set up may be more slower to set up, but tends to be more rigid.

And what is the point of trying of trying to measure, if the indicator is able to move / deflect.?

If it does, you are effectively measuring with something hanging from a length of string; i e a very poor datum point.

Howard

I like the Noga dti stands, a lot better than the cheap knock off's. Another dti I have discovered new to me, is the electronic dti's found on the internet. They have a very low spring force, and have found them to be very reliable. I could possibly respring my Mitutoyo dti, but instead have opted for a 1um resolution digital indicator. It comes with 2 options for the backplate, a plain and the back mount option and a 30mm travel.