Dead simple lathe tool height gauge

[DanLins]

My only problem with this height gage is that while it might work fine with Marv's rotating tool post, it will not save time with the quick change type post, since rotating it over the cross slide each time to check it will cause position change on your tool holders, unless you can somehow get it back to the exact same point it was at before the rotation. On the other hand, setting it with the QCTP while aligned to the work piece will allow multiple removal and reinsertion cycles with the actual tool holder while maintaining accurate height and position.

Other than that, I liked your simple center finder so much I went ahead and made one for my lathe. Thanks, Marv !

Dan L

[tooly]

I made up one of these some time ago from U tuber Joe Pieczynski It has been quite useful
I also use it to line up my dial indicators with 8mm and 0.3125" mounting shafts to set up on the center line.very handy for checking tapers and run outs.

[crazypj]

Personally I've never used a height gauge. I always found it easier to write on tailstock the exact centre height to a fixed point on compound than just use a vernier to set tool. The cheap Chinese lathe I have is 3.495" to centre. I don't like the amount of overhang a QCTP gives small less rigid machine so use 4 way with shims. It's simpler to fit, find height and add shims to get exact centre

[old_toolmaker]

Thanks for posting your Lathe Tool Height gage Marv.! Simple is king!
I also use a simple two step lathe tool height gage. I have one step set for upside down tools on a rear toolpost and one set for use with standard a tool post.

[motorhead]

Like most neophyte machinists I soon realized that I needed a tool height gauge for setting the height of my lathe tools. My research uncovered a succession of what I can only describe as the most over-designed, complicated, hard-to-use devices I could imagine. As a devotee of the idea that simple is better I made a gauge that consists of nothing more than a block of steel relieved on the bottom...

so that it will sit flat and not rock when placed on a flat surface. The height of the block was carefully machined to match the height of the lathe spindle above the top of the compound. (Thankfully, my compound has a flat top; not all lathes do.)

Its use is simple. Push it up against the tool tip and slide your thumbnail back and forth between the gauge surface and the tool. Millions of years of evolution have made our fingers extremely sensitive; you'll be able to detect a few thousandths height difference and tell whether the tool is high or low as well.

Marv, you never cease to amaze me! I have my grandfather's 1946 Craftsman/Atlas 618 metal lathe Light duty with adjustable bronze bushings in the head stock) and I have been doing all sorts of research regarding best/easiest way to set my tool height. I could have saved my self a whole lot of headache by just asking you! This machined block will be made by chucking it up in my 4-jaw and facing a piece of square bar stock I have laying around. It will be a great project for a beginner like me. It will be my first time to do something like this. I usually work on round things. You are right when you say most of the other ones are over engineered (especially qif the need any sort of electrical parts). Have a great day and keep on inventing things!

[mklotz]

Thanks for the kind words.

You can relieve in the lathe as well. A round recess in the base of a square block is fine. In fact, there's nothing sacred about the block being square; it could just as well be cylindrical.

Have you given thought to how you will determine what height to make the block?

A suggested procedure...

Mount a piece of smooth round stock in the lathe chuck. Take a light cut to make it concentric with the lathe axis of rotation.

Mount a tool with a flat top similar to the one shown in my picture in your tool holder.

Pinch a piece of thin metal (a machinist scale works well) between the tool and the round stock.

If the top of the scale tilts away from you the tool is high; if it tilts toward you the tool is low.

Adjust the tool height until the scale remains vertical.

Now your tool is on the center height and can be used to establish the height needed for the gauge.

[Mook]

I like the simple ones and prefer a plate on the top so the underside is the reference. Move the gauge top over the tool back and forth while adjusting the tool height until you fel the click where the tool top just kisses the underside of the top plate. I am guilty of making an over the top tool height gauge myself.