Abstract: A hand-held instrument for aligning the point of a lathe cutting tool on the level of the longitudinal axis of a cylindrical work piece mounted for rotation in a lathe. The instrument comprises a shaft with a visually-ascertainable gauge, preferably in the form of a spirit level, fixedly secured to one end of the shaft, and a counterweight at the other end of the shaft. The instrument is adapted to be temporarily placed and lightly suspended by the pressure between the point of the carriage-mounted cutting tool and the cylindrical work piece, with the spirit level end of the instrument projecting upwardly whereby vertical adjustment of the cutting tool to the desired horizontal alignment with the work piece axis is accomplished when the spirit level indicates the shaft of the instrument is oriented at true vertical.