# Indexing on your metal lathe



## skiprat (Aug 27, 2014)

A good buddy of mine ( yes, even I have a couple of mates !!:wink: ) asked me to explain how I made the indexing indents of the faceplate of my metal lathe. 
For those that don't know what indexing is, it is simply using the spindle of your lathe to hold work in fixed positions to use other tools on the work piece. The lathe is ALWAYS switched off when doing indexing. I used this method on my last pen to do the grinding and I used it a lot on my Going for Gold pen. 

Some lathes, especially wood lathes already have this feature. Often a 24 indent around the scroll chuck, for instance.

On a metal lathe like mine you could easily index the spindle by rigging up a locking pin over the primary spindle gear. There are loads of methods.
But then it occured to me the most members in USA prefer the fixed gearbox change gears instead of the loose ones like I have. Therefore, it's not as easy to get to the gears. 

So here is a quick way of drilling 12 indents around your faceplate flange. 
I simply used a large socket in the headstock chuck and a matching nut ( or bolthead ) in the tailstock chuck. The socket has 12 possible positions for the nut to engage in, so use one at a time to drill the flange with a centre drill. I think it's rare that anyone would need more than 12 indents. I use mostly 3.or 6

Nuts and sockets aren't exactly precision parts and naturally you will need to allow for the backlash slop. This is easy to do. You could clamp something to one of the jaws, like a pair of visegrips or a small G clamp or better still, the old school way of tying a string around the chuck with a weight hanging on it. The point is that the slop is always taken up in the same direction. 

In the pics you will see two items painted mostly green. One is obviously the clamp to use when doing index work and the other is a clamp to hold the drill in the toolpost. I made mine and it is articulated and can hold a router too. You can buy these holders from places like LMS.

The carraige is locked in position and the cross slide used to advance the drill.

I hope this is of use to at least my buddy !!:biggrin:


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## mredburn (Aug 27, 2014)

simple but effective, nicely done Steve, by the way what would you call the holder if you were trying to look them up at LMS? Do they have super secret name?


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## SteveJ (Aug 27, 2014)

I want to know what the super secret full name of LMS is.  This is the second post today that referenced it.  My Google search didn't help.

Found it.  Little Machine Shop I suppose!


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## mredburn (Aug 27, 2014)

Little  Machine Shop
Tooling, parts, and accessories for bench top machinists - LittleMachineShop.com


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## SteveJ (Aug 27, 2014)

Hah, beat you!  I had searched simply for LMS.  Then thought to add metal lathe.  Should have been more patient.


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## mredburn (Aug 27, 2014)

True but I included a link so others would not have to work so hard to find it.:tongue:


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## skiprat (Aug 27, 2014)

Mike, it appears that these are as rare as rocking horse poo these days.:frown:
So maybe you'd have to make one

Here's a link to the same item but it's too small for most drills. This only has a 20mm collar, but IIRC then power tools use 43mm collars. 

I'm sure I have seen them somewhere. I'll keep looking.....


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## Dalecamino (Aug 27, 2014)

Well I'll be.....who would have thunk it? Indents in the faceplate! 

Skiprat! That's who :biggrin: Thanks for posting this Steve. I shall have to try this someday :biggrin: Although I don't have a tool post like yours, Maybe I'll figure out a way to adapt my drill to it. I'm going to look at the links you and, Mike have provided. THIS, is exciting. You're Buddy is going to be one happy old .....so and so


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## KBs Pensnmore (Aug 27, 2014)

Thanks for that Steve, I really appreciate the work and help that you submit here.
Kryn


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## skiprat (Aug 28, 2014)

Well...after a bit of digging around, I found that 43mm diameter is a standard size amongst the biker fraternity. Google 43mm Fork Clamps and you get many options. This one looks good and I may even get one or two.
In fact, on the Ebay page, there is almost every conceivable diameter you could think of, incase your tool isn't 43mm..

I can't find a bigger version of the Proxxon clamp unfortunately...sorry

It even has threaded holes to bolt a bar that can be fixed in the toolpost.

Another option, but not my favourite is to use the plastic handle that comes with the drill. Easily modded to work but hey, it's plastic....:wink:


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## BRobbins629 (Aug 28, 2014)

Very cool Skip - I already have an indexing wheel for my metal lathe made years ago by JohnnyCNC, but really like the idea of the socket and nut. Won't use it for this, but I'm sure it will come in handy for some future project.


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## skiprat (Aug 28, 2014)

Hiya Bruce. Is Johnny still making stuff?  I thought I remembered something about him perhaps not anymore??  I do remember him making the rings though.  It seems now that the indexing is the easy part and the tool holding is the bugbear. Could be a nice opportunity for someone like Johhny or Rick or Paul  ( Watcha waiting for guys???:biggrin: )


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## Dalecamino (Dec 29, 2014)

FYI!!! This little project is coming together.  More to come later :biggrin:

Thanks Steven!:wink:


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## skiprat (Dec 29, 2014)

OK Chucky Baby, enough of the teasing !! 
When are you going to put us out of our misery and start a thread on what you and your little Elf have come up with....????:biggrin:


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## randyrls (Dec 29, 2014)

To join the thread; This place sells a metal lathe mount for a dremel tool.  It is threaded to match the dremel tool and you just put it into the tool holder.  *Be sure to pay attention to the thread needed.*
Alisam Engineering - Hand Tool Manufacturing


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## lorbay (Dec 29, 2014)

Thanks to Steve and his great pictorials this is the same method Seen here. that I used to make my pool cue pen.. When I started this pen I had to do my face plate, I took my face plate off and did it with a protractor. This is way easier. Thanks Steve. 
Lin.


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## Dalecamino (Dec 29, 2014)

skiprat said:


> OK Chucky Baby, enough of the teasing !!
> When are you going to put us out of our misery and start a thread on what you and your little Elf have come up with....????:biggrin:


Neh-Neh Skippy!  You all will have to squirm and, stay awake at night until, it's time. :tongue::biggrin:



lorbay said:


> Thanks to Steve and his great pictorials this is the same method Seen here. that I used to make my pool cue pen.. When I started this pen I had to do my face plate, I took my face plate off and did it with a protractor. This is way easier. Thanks Steve.
> Lin.


 Thanks Lin...I wanted to keep track of that. That offset tail stock is attractive to me.


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## Curly (Dec 29, 2014)

Just to be clear on the terminology being used for the "faceplate" being drilled. Is that the backing plate attached to a chuck to adapt it to the lathe spindle? Or is it the flange integral to the spindle of the smaller lathes that the the chucks and faceplates are bolted to?

On my D1-5 spindle flange there isn't enough room to drill much of a hole and have an edge distance that wouldn't compromise it. Drilling the back plates on the chucks could work with care in spacing to avoid the bolt holes close to the surface but I would need to drill each chuck backing plate or directly into the chucks that have the D1-5 built in, a total of 4 in all. For me it might/would be easier to attach an index plate, like the ones Alisam referenced above sell, to the outboard end of the spindle. My Grizzly G4003G Has a 4 bolt spider in the end of the shaft to support long items like gun barrels that would hold an index plate on a shaft easily.


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## lorbay (Dec 29, 2014)

Curly said:


> Just to be clear on the terminology being used for the "faceplate" being drilled. Is that the backing plate attached to a chuck to adapt it to the lathe spindle? Or is it the flange integral to the spindle of the smaller lathes that the the chucks and faceplates are bolted to?
> 
> On my D1-5 spindle flange there isn't enough room to drill much of a hole and have an edge distance that wouldn't compromise it. Drilling the back plates on the chucks could work with care in spacing to avoid the bolt holes close to the surface but I would need to drill each chuck backing plate or directly into the chucks that have the D1-5 built in, a total of 4 in all. For me it might/would be easier to attach an index plate, like the ones Alisam referenced above sell, to the outboard end of the spindle. My Grizzly G4003G Has a 4 bolt spider in the end of the shaft to support long items like gun barrels that would hold an index plate on a shaft easily.


Pete mine is the face plate that the chuck bolts to. So I guess really it is the backing plate.

Lin.


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## Curly (Dec 29, 2014)

Lin 
Backing plates are machined to match the shaft and the chuck and are usually permanently bolted to the chuck. That way a standard chuck can be made to fit many lathes. It's cheaper than making chucks to fit all the lathe shaft types from threaded to  D1- series and beyond.


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## Rich L (Dec 29, 2014)

"Skiprat" is at the end of a long string of descendants from J. J. Holtzappfel (a Londoner) who pioneered multitudinous detents in spindle plates of wood lathes. No wonder he's passing this on.

Right, Steven??   :biggrin:

Cheers,
Rich


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