My stuff
CutKing 15X36 lathe
Acra 1440 SVS lathe
Supermax 10X50 mill
I have attached, or tried to attach, photos of my machines, as well as the little gizmo I concocted for holding the muzzle whilst chambering on the CutKing (long headstock issues). This is my first photo posting attempt, so if nothing shows up...it's because I'm an idiot.
As I said, the "centerdoodad" photos are my answer to the long headstock problem. The large diameter piece of round is aluminum, and is bored to a hard slip fit on the OD of my spindle. Set screws secure it there. There is another hole bored to a hard slip fit that accepts a cylindrical sleeve containing a dead center. More set screws secure it in place. The sleeve has 4 flats ground on it at 90 degrees from one another that give the set screws a flat surface to bottom out on.
In practice, a nice, fresh center is put on the muzzle end with a Kiff piloted center cutter. The barrel is run through the headstock with the to be machined chamber end sticking out of the chuck, and the chuck is tightened. The sleeve/center is pushed in until it is firmly bearing in the center of the barrel, and held there while the set screws are tightened. Then one goes about dialing in the barrel, etc, etc. To crown, I just reverse the procedure, but being gentle with the center in my freshly cut chamber. This center arrangement seems to work well, but to me, there's a lot of places in it for the tolerances to stack.
Sorry...a bit off topic, but I thought I should explain what the hell that bugger was for.
Justin