Project #5 from Trip - Tailstock drilling depth indicator

[Trip59]

So, frustrated with the welding issues I decided to take a break and chuck up some lathe work. I started planning out some binding posts and contactor screw posts for some tattoo machines. The problem was, I needed some precision holes, exacting depths, not something easily done with just the tailstock crank and markings.

I had seen something similar a while back on another site and grabbed a chunk of acrylic from a friend a while back, a leftover from a tabletop he made. it's about a half inch thick.



I trimmed off the excess, chucked it up and drilled, then bored the hole to mount it over the tailstock.





Next is to cross drill the bottom, then slot from the bottom to the hole to allow it to clamp.

Once clamped, a dial indicator on a stand can be zeroed against the plate, allowing a precise depth to be drilled by reading the indicator instead of the rough markings on the top of the ram.