Patent ID: 8261457

Claim:
The process for aligning the workpiece holding jaws on the chuck of a CNC lathe comprising: providing a CNC lathe having one or more tool blocks, a workpiece holding chuck, and a plurality of workpiece holding jaws having workpiece holding edges that are adjustably mountable on said chuck providing a laser capable of generating a narrow beam from a laser beam generating end thereof; providing a housing for the laser; mounting the laser within the housing; mounting a power supply for the laser within said housing and electrically communicating said power supply with said laser through an on/off switch to form a laser alignment tool; permanently mounting said laser alignment tool on or within the tool block of a CNC lathe with the laser beam generating end thereof facing said chuck and with the beam generated by said laser alignment tool being located on the centerline of said tool block and parallel to the centerline of said CNC lathe; assigning said laser alignment tool a location in the computer of said CNC lathe; determining the diameter of a workpiece to be held by the jaws of said chuck; instructing the computer of said CNC lathe to position said laser alignment tool so that its beam will strike said chuck and form a red laser target dot on said chuck at a target location where the workpiece holding edges of said jaws are to be located; activating said laser alignment tool to generate a laser beam which strikes said chuck at said target location; positioning a first jaw so that its workpiece holding edge is in alignment with said laser beam; rotating said chuck to the location of the remaining jaws and repeating the alignment step.