Mini Lathe Accessories

Dial Indicator Holder for Quick Change Toolpost

I made this dial indicator holder for my lathe’s A2Z quick change toolpost because I wanted a fast and convenient way of centering work in the four jaw chuck and I thought this would be a bit faster than messing with a general purpose magnetic indicator base.

I wanted to make it out of a scrap piece of aluminum that I had lying around and I needed to perform a boring operation to fit the shaft of the dial indicator, so I had to make sure the overall dimensions of the part were small enough so I could mount it on the faceplate of the lathe for boring.

Dial indicator holder for Mini Lath quick change toolpost
The finished dial indicator holder. It has a ledge at the top end of the dovetail channel that serves as a stop against the top of the tool post to set the height of the dial indicator so it’s on center with the lathe axis.
Closeup of dial indicator holder showing dovetails as seperate pieces bolted to the main body of the holder
I didn’t have a dovetail cutter, so I decided to make the dovetails as seperate pieces that get bolted to the main body of the holder. I cut the 60 degree dovetail angle by mounting it in the mill vise and tilting the mill column over.
Detail of indicator holder showing hole bored for indicator barrel, slot and knurled brass tightening screw
To finish it off, I tapped four holes for the dovetail, one for the screw that grips the dial indicator, I cut a slit with a slitting saw and made a knurled brass thumbscrew.
Rear view of indicator holder showing the four bolts that hold
        the dovetails on
Rear view of indicator holder showing the four bolts that hold the dovetails on
Dial indicator holder with dial indicator clamped in it
This is how the indicator is held in the holder
Dial indicator holder with dial indicator clamped in it
This is how it will be oriented when viewed from the operator’s point of view
View of Mini Lathe carriage, cross slide, quick change toolpost and four jaw chuck from above
View of lathe from above without indicator mounted
View of Mini Lathe carriage, cross slide, quick change toolpost with indicator holder mounted and four jaw chuck from above
And here’s what it looks like with the indicator holder and indicator mounted.
Scale drawing of dial indicator holder with dimensions
Here’s a vector drawing of the indicator holder.