Super Easy 4-Jaw Chuck Alignment and Neat QCTP Indicator Holder

The 4-Jaw Chuck stands out as one of the most flexible workholding tools for turning, even though it's often daunting for novices. Many get intimidated as they feel it's too fiddly to get the 4-jaw aligned so the work is centralized. However, once you master this crucial machinist's skill, they're surprisingly uncomplicated to set up. Still, it doesn't harm to make the setup process even quicker and simpler.

I got a nice letter from Aaron Gough, who had just watched a video he found on CNCCookbook's Lathe Workholding Page by David Lemeris:

David's method is the one I use and it is super fast and easy.  If you were afraid of the 4-jaw, there's no need to be, they're easy to set up and extremely accurate once you know how.  One of the things Aaron noticed in the video was the very nice indicator holder that goes right into the QCTP (Quick Change Tool Post) on the lathe-very convenient.  So, he wanted to pass along his very nicely executed version in this drawing from his own blog:

Click the image for the full-sized drawing...

Thanks Aaron, for contributing to the cause!