My machinist taught me this one. Although he has every Starrett you can think of, he only uses them at times.

He buys dials from harbor freight a dozen at a time for less then ten dollars each then cuts the mount off them and mounts a three dollar hardware store magnet on the back. The magnets have lots of power and hold well.

The all thread post can be adjusted easily to lathe center and swung in many directions.

A four foot chunk of angle iron catching two head bolts and shaped to come over the back of a T engine over the transmission to the forth main will allow you to accurately check many points with a total cost of twenty dollars and a few hours time with those dials.

He also uses brackets on the lathe so the dials are used most of the time for measurements rather then worn numbers or worn screws on the handles

The 26 27 crank in the picture is about worthless. Although it looks good, the crank is twenty five thousands under, and the rear main is five thousands off center of the flange and the center point.

Point is, be careful, a twenty dollar caliper when looking at a crank, will save you lots of money trying to find another to replace it.

Paul