John, the K&E fitting looks like this:
The K&E is on the way from Seattle. I don't have it yet, so I am trying to get ready to start using it. It includes an optical square attachment, and it has a spherical mount that slides onto the scope barrel. I have some mirrors already, as well as a couple of round targets that I can mount as needed and a collimating light source (also in need of a light fixture).
I would like to set up my lathe with a pair of targets at either end of the spindle bore, align the scope to that axis, then verify headstock alignment with the bed, cross slide perpendicularity, bed wear, tailstock height and tailstock ram alignment. Having two scopes may not be needed but I was not sure which kind of scope and reticle I would find most useful.
Reticles. Do they all need to match, or can I do a good job of alignment without matching reticles? The K&E comes with the reticle below:
the Leitz reticle has a linear scale that runs across the field of view and which provides direct reading 0-30 (I don't know what the units are; seconds perhaps?). The optical assembly can be rotated 90 degrees for measurements in both directions. It also has a peripheral scale that runs around the outside edge of the field of view, and is marked 0-60 and can be rotated independently . (I don't know what the units mean, the 0-60 scale consumes about 270 degrees of the field). The eyepiece can focus on the reticle or on objects from about 30 feet to infinity, but not in between. Maybe this is ok with an autocollimator, even when the targets are much closer, the reticle is what is important???
The targets and the collimating light source have a third type of reticle, with three pairs of lines that run through the center of the field.
The main things I am still missing (besides experience and knowledge in this area) are adjustable mounts for the scope and for the collimating light source, if I end up using it. If any of you have made your own, I'd like to hear the details. I've seen pictures of mounts with two pairs of rotating cones that look like they can be fabricated, but some close-ups and details would be useful.
Dave