Magnetic Back for Dial Indicator

thingiverse

This is a replacement back for a chinesium dial indicator to allow it to stick onto the ways of a lathe and measure carriage travel. It's very good for making pretty precise shoulder lengths and things on turned parts. If you need to measure more than the range of your indicator, just move the carriage 900 thou and re-zero until you get to the dimension you want. There are a few other designs for magnetic indicator backs on here, but I wanted one that would keep the indicator square with the ways of the lathe so measurements are accurate. There are many dial indicators, many lathes, and many magnet sizes, so make sure the dimensions will fit your stuff. If you need to change anything or add more magnets, I've included the Fusion 360 file so you can hopefully figure out how to adjust the dimensions. If you do adjust the dimensions of the magnet, make sure you leave some clearance behind it so it can be pressed into the hole all the way. If you have a mini lathe, it would be a good idea to mount the back so the indicator sits to the right of the carriage. There isn't much space between the headstock and the carriage normally which makes measuring things close to the chuck difficult.