Steve Fornelius’ Headstock Dial Indicator Holder

Here's another idea I put to use, a Headstock Dial Indicator Holder. We all need a way to hold a dial indicator so that we can align workpieces in the independent jaw chucks. I tried putting a steel plate on the headstock with double faced tape, and while that worked, I still needed to take off the whole thing before I machined. I decided to make a simple fixture that would hold the shaft of the dial indicator, but would be able to swing out of the way once the measurements were done. I came up with this idea: Turn a cylinder from steel that fit the hole in the dial indicator clamp. I made mine about 1.5 inches high. Then turn and thread one end 10-32 so that the square nut will thread on it. Make the threaded end about 3/8" long. Thread on a nut and slide it into the slot on the headstock. Tighten gently, and file off the end of the threads so that the base sits flat on the headstock when tightened into the nut, but when loosened, the base slides easily. This allows for about 3 inches of front-to-back movement, and the length of the commercial dial indicator shaft (with adjuster) lets me go out about 5 inches on a shaft to check for runout.