I’ve just bought a nice South Bend heavy 10” lathe with some nice extras, but of course I need a few more items. Does anyone know the proper name of the alignment fixture Darrel uses on the end of the spindle hole opposite the chuck? It is basically a collar with four screws to align a barrel (or presumably any material) through the spindle so it runs true and doesn’t depend only on the chuck. I don’t know what this thing is called. Also, where would be a good place to get one? Thanks.
I don’t know what it is called for a South Bend lathe but on the Grizzly lathes they are referred to as “outboard end support screws”. A gunsmith I know made an adapter that goes in the end of the lath that has four screw holes tapped in it to do what you are talking about. He made it on his lath so maybe you could do the same. Good luck and congrats on your new lathe.
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I have heard of it being called a “spider”. Whatever it is, I think you have to make it. Never seen anything like it for sale. Think it is mostly used by gunsmiths. Thanks guys. I thought I might end up making one. That’s fine though – part of the trade.
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For whatever it is worth, I made an adapter for my lathe using a piece of 2 inch cold rolled round stock. I made mine to fit over the spindle shaft and drilled and tapped three 5/16 x 18 holes for the barrel adjustment and one on the other end to secure it to the shaft. It works great. I just used it for the first time to support a barrel to thread a barrel extension. I think it would have been better though with 4 adjustment screws rather than three.
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It is called a spider and most of us made them in school. They are also available from Brownells. It is a collar that either threads or tight slip fits over the outboard end of the spindle. About fl” should extend past the end of the spindle shaft. About 3/8” from the end of the collar drill and tap 4 ⁄” x 28 holes at 90 degree intervals. With the screws threaded in and looking down the shaft it should look like a scope reticle. Center the right end of the barrel in the 4 jaw chuck and the left end with the 4 screws. Make sure you indicate both ends to as close to 0 – 0 as you can get them using bore plugs to run on the bore center. I made a “slip into the end of the spindle” shell with a stop collar and a 60 degree entry hole to make centering the breech end automatic when I’m crowning barrels.
