Description
Lathe dog for the mini lathe.
Use a lathe dog to drive the work when you are turning between centers.
This lathe dog has a workpiece capacity of 40 mm (1.57").
Secure lathe dog rotation with lathe dog driver.
Chris's Tips
The photo shows how to use a lathe dog and drive pin with the mini lathe.
Lathe dogs are the perfect solution for turning between centers. (That's where you mount a dead center in the headstock and another center -- usually a live center -- in the tailstock. You then mount the workpiece, which has a small divot machined into each end, between the centers.) To drive the workpiece, you place a lathe dog on it; the lathe dog is pushed around by a driver pin screwed in to a faceplate or the spindle, as shown above.
Sounds complicated, right? So why turn between centers instead of just chucking your workpiece?
- It's very concentric, accurate (less runout than a chuck), and repeatable. That means you can remove your workpiece, measure it, test it, even flip it end for end -- and then put it right back on center.
- Because of this accuracy, it's easier to blend cuts that you make from both ends.
- It's easier for long or irregular workpieces that don't easily fit in a chuck.
- By offsetting the tailstock, you can accurately turn tapers.