Indexing

[airmodel]

Hi everyone
I do not have indexing equipment in my workshop so I thought why not use the jaws of a three jaw chuck to index three holes I wanted to drill in a turbine. An adapter was made so a electric drill could be mounted in the tool post of my lathe and was used to drill the three holes in the turbine.

This method could be useful to someone not having a lot of accessories in their workshop.

The video shows how it was done.http://youtu.be/cQHBzCAmsqE   

 Another useful thing to have is a temporary faceplate so holes can be drilled where ever they are needed. I find that the slots in the faceplate that came with the lathe are never in the right place.

Bill

[Roger B]

I have used a similar technique with a block under one of the jaws which can be used for 3 or 4 holes depending on which chuck is fitted. The picture is making a collet extractor for a mini lathe, a similar setup was used to drill the clamping/releasing holes for the tapered bush in the flywheel of my vertical engine.

[steamer]

My 5C collet chuck has a 24 position index ring that I can zero out.   It comes in really handy with the filing rest!

[airmodel]

Roger B
steamer

It is good to see how we all think alike. 

[Ramon Wilson]

Now that really is a good looking filing rest Dave  - one day perhaps I'll actually find time to make a proper one and finally bin the jury rig job 

Ramon

[Bezalel]

Thats a handy trick to remember Bill.
 
 
It immediatey sparked my curiosity about how would I go about finding other prime numbers above 3 without an indexer on any typical bench lathe.
 
Numbers like 5, 7, 9 or even 13 might be challenging 
 
Say we want 5 divisions
 
Set the lathe to the coursest pitch thread -(lets make it 1-3/4"UNC)= 5 tpi on my charts
 
Calculate  ¹⁰⁰⁰/_{(tpi x Divs)}       =   ¹⁰⁰⁰/_{(5 x 5)} = 40
 
When a micrometer or dial indicator shows the carrage has moved 40 thou, the spindle will have rotated 1/5^th of a revolution.
 
If your change wheels are set for a metric thread, use the formular     
 
^{pitch mm}/_Divs = carrage movement mm   
Ramon
when you work out where to find time, keep it a secret, you won't want to get killed in the rush.
 
 
Bez
 
 

[pgp001]

Bez

You keep your time in the same place as your "round tuits"

Phil