Needs Must

[Dalboy]

I have an idea for a turned piece which will require holes to be drilled around the stand eventually to have something put into them. Up until now I have managed to to get away with using a spanner on the nut behind the chuck and resting it on the bed, this allowed for either 2, 3or 6 holes to be placed around whatever I was making. I could go about it by buying an indexing plate as my chucks don't have index holes in them, or make one.
A while ago I brought some bits and pieces second hand for the lathe and in the box was the the bracket for a Robert Sorby indexing support which had been modified as can be seen in the photo the bottom bracket had been replaced with a short flat bar. Now mine has two round bars so that is to short, that is not a problem as I have some longer flat bar to replace it with and will make a small block so it sits between the bars as well as making an upright.
The main part however took a little longer to make the index wheel luckily I had some 1/8" thick steel sheet cut this to a little over 6" diameter stuck on a circle with division lines of 24 as I felt that is the most I would ever want.
I drilled a hole in the centre after centre popping to make sure I drill exactly centre(well exactly as much as you can with just a drill press). I used a jig so that the division lines went straight across under a straight edge that sat on two dowels so it did not move and then drilled the outer index holes. Now after all this I wish I took more photo's.

Using the same jig I rotated the disc in front of the grinder this made it nice and round.
I took the opportunity at this sage to use a hole saw to enlarge the centre hole to fit my lathe.
So as of tonight I am at this stage along with the replacement bottom bar cut to length ready for a hole. Also note that so I don't confuse myself when using it I numbered every even numbered hole.


I will post more when I get around to it as well as the jig which will not be until late tomorrow as i have to got for scans tomorrow and I know I will be at the hospital for at least 3 hours what a pain

 

[Honest John]

Good job! I made a series of indexing plates out of pieces of scrap laminate flooring. I downloaded and printed the patterns from tinternet and stuck them onto the boards. I used my bandsaw to cut into the lines carefully. The plates are locked with a wooden contrived post through which I put a brass rod and filed the tip to fit the saw kerf. (I did actually go into the bandsaw kerfs with a tennon saw just to widen them a little). I numbered the slots odd numbers in blue and evens in red. This works well for me. I’ve used my 48 ring several times for 24 segment open segment builds. Each layer alternates red and blue so as to provide the offset. I considered making metal ones but sort of ‘used what I had.’ One thing I didn’t like was jamming the disk between the chuck and the register, as I was worried about loosing the registration of the chuck to the spindle. In the end, I attached the disk to the chuck. I have 4 scroll chucks, and one of them, the Sorby Patriot has 2 or 3 m4 machine screws in the back. I found that I could remove these and replace them with slightly longer ones, and after carefully marking and drilling my indexing plate, bolting it to the back of the chuck. It means I can only use my system with this one chuck, but I’ve not found it to be a problem as I’ve got others and it allows my chuck to fully screw Home and register properly. I don’t know if I’ve overthought this a bit, but I just thought that the manufacturer has made the spindle with a registration surface, and it seemed a shame to not use it. Good luck with your scan, I’ve got my surveillance visit to hospital next Tuesday. #-o