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Skew ChiDAMN!!
13th August 2006, 07:20 PM
OK, so I finally pulled my finger out and decided to rebuild my old indexing plate. The last one had a collision with a temper tantrum and failed to pull through. :o As someone in another thread looks like they could do with one ;) here's a few photos of my replacements' progress as a general "how to."

First photo: a piece of 12mm ply, roughly rounded on the bandsaw and the central hole drilled out with a spade-bit to fit my lathes' drive shaft. In this case, 1" It doesn't have to be perfectly round... if I did want it perfectl, well, it is going to be mounted on the lathe soon and I'm sure you can work out how I'd round it. ;)

Second photo: This is my locking mechanism. So simple as to be ridiculous. Just an offcut of 18mm pine, trimmed to suit the width of my bed with a small slat of 9mm ply fastened underneath. The ply is a snug fit between the lathes' bed rails... it actually needs to be tapped in with a rubber mallet! :eek: It'll soon loosen up, but if it becomes too loose I'll add a fastener to the bottom to lock it under the bed. Perhaps. Laziness rules! :cool:

Third photo: The top of the locking mechanism. Like I said, simple innit? :D

Fourth photo: The beast it's all going to attach to. Don't mind the clutter, it's just been a busy day today and the clean up can wait 'til tomorrow. Or next weekend. Well... until someone gets on my case, anyway. :o

Fifth: Do I really need to explain?

Skew ChiDAMN!!
13th August 2006, 07:33 PM
Six: Fitting the latch. I fitted the disk first so I could get the position of the latch right, about 5mm clearance from the disk but still enough meat on the latch for positive engagement. The disk can still be easily removed with the latch in place and because the latch is positioned under the chuck it can stay wedged there until and unless it gets in the way of the banjo. I rarely move the banjo up that far, hence my lack of concern about the tight "rubber mallet" fit...

Seven: None of the above is of much use without the chuck!

Eight: OK, the chuck holds everything in position but there's something missing... the 'oles for the latch! I simply close the latch firmly onto the disk, which I rotate by hand. This leaves a score mark on the disk (visible in most pics of the disc 'cos I didn't think to take pix until after I assembled it the first time. :o ) which tells me exactly where I can drill.

Nine: well... there is no nine. Yet. It's getting cold'n'dark outside. :rolleyes: Tomorrow I'll break out the compass and protractor to divide the disk up into segments and drill the holes I want then (maybe) clean up the disk edges with some s/paper. I'll probably only drill 4 holes at 90° increments and another 2 at the 120° spots... so I can index in quarters and thirds. I'll add more holes as I need 'em. If and when... like I keep saying: laziness rules! :D

BTW, the latch should be a snug fit in the holes. If they're too big, things get sloppy. Obvious, I know, but... well... it's an easy mistake to make. DAMHIKT. :o:rolleyes:

Now, there's quite a few more elegant rigs out there but the commercial ones tend to cost $$$. This cost me maybe $2 for the latch, (I dunno... it has been rattling around in one of my collection jars for years) a few scrap offcuts of material and less than an hours time.

Well worth it in my books!

Tassie Boy
13th August 2006, 07:41 PM
looks good skew..
thanks for posting this i might make one myself...

mmmmm.. now i wonder what that current piece of work is going to be.....a goblet by any chance :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :D
Cheers

Skew ChiDAMN!!
13th August 2006, 07:54 PM
mmmmm.. now i wonder what that current piece of work is going to be.....a goblet by any chance :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :D

One of these days I'll surprise everybody and turn something different! A bowl, perhaps? :D:D

Tassie Boy
13th August 2006, 08:15 PM
gosh ... or mabye even a pen!!

TTIT
14th August 2006, 01:22 AM
Brilliant in it's simplicity Skew! Makes it way too easy.:)

Don Nethercott
14th August 2006, 11:27 PM
Thanks Skew,
I'll give it a go.
Don

Doughboy
14th August 2006, 11:41 PM
Ye snoob I may be but I need to ask a question. Indexing ring??? What does it actually do?:confused:

Please no one say ..it indexes ...

I am curious what can I say.:confused:

Pete:)

Skew ChiDAMN!!
14th August 2006, 11:57 PM
Simply put, it locks the chuck in position so you can do non-turning work on it. Carving, drilling, etc.

For example, if the ring has 3 holes in it spaced 120° it makes it easy to drill 3 holes for legs in a bowl base at exactly the right spots. 4 holes @ 90° apart allows accurate quartering, and so on. Ideally, an indexing ring has a helluva lot more holes than just 3 or 4...

You can get really fancy if you have a dremel or similar mounted in a jig on the banjo, so you can do fluted sides, etc.

Bodgy
15th August 2006, 12:37 AM
Thanks Doughnut, I was gathering the courage to ask the same question.

Your temerity saved me from much approbrium.

Skewy, I've got it now.

Doughboy
15th August 2006, 12:38 AM
Thanks Skew

So that is one of about a thousand questions I expect I shall have...

Pete

Don Nethercott
15th August 2006, 12:45 AM
Hey Skew,
What's with this Dremel in a jig?

Do you have any info on that, ie web links, etc,

Sounds interesting.

Don

Skew ChiDAMN!!
15th August 2006, 01:50 AM
Don, it's a concept I've heard about and have given some thought to; it's not anything I've done any footwork on as to what others have tried. Yet. This is the sort of thing I get more enjoyment out of working out for myself, mistakes and all.

Imagine a basic bookend: just two pieces of wood joined together at right angles. Now mount a router in the upright piece so it's like a table-mounted unit tipped on it's side. If you put this jig and a piece of wood on a table, you should be able to rout a line around the wood at a constant height, right?

Now apply the same thing to a lathe... either bolt a piece of board to the bed-rails to act as the table, or maybe make an adjustable height table to replace the toolrest in the banjo. Replace the router with a dremel & router kit. Purely 'cos it's smaller and a normal router just won't fit where I'd like it to go. ;)

I think that in practice the router bit should be at the same as the drive-centre... theoretically you'd get some nice effects if the height was different but it introduces more complications than the simple jig I've described could handle. (Like the changing radius of the bowl/goblet/whatever)

Couple it all with the indexing ring, et voila!

I will get around to trying it out one day. When I get a round tuit. :)

Gil Jones
15th August 2006, 02:58 AM
Visit this site (by William Smith) and find downloadable .pdf files that will allow you to print templates for indexing your wheel.
http://www.smithart.us/download.htm

Forgot this site, give it a look>> http://billswoodcreations.com/index-wheel.html

David H
29th November 2006, 01:14 AM
Just had a look at Bills website and youve got to say he doesn't doing things by halves. Don't think my little Suzuki would take to kindly to those size logs in the back of it. He must be built like a brick sh#thouse to handle them on his own. Lot of great ideas there to put ones mind to. Just thinking about all the trees the main roads dept is wood chipping down the road at the moment just makes you wish for some of Bills tools to be on hand to drag them home and cut into usable lumber instead of mulch. Site is well worth a look.
Regards
David H
http://billswoodcreations.com/index-wheel.html

hughie
29th November 2006, 09:06 AM
Skew,

Thanks for the tutorial. another job for the project list....sigh. Will get around to it as the need dictates...:D

Happy amateur
29th November 2006, 09:20 AM
Have a look at www.orchard-woodturners.org.uk (http://www.orchard-woodturners.org.uk) and select router jigs.
They are designed for a poolwood lathe but could be adopted for others
They are to be used with "normal routers" over the work
Anybody welcome to right click save as.

Fred

scooter
29th November 2006, 09:27 AM
Onya Skew, more adding to the knowledge base :)

Gra
29th November 2006, 10:34 AM
When I get a round tuit. :)

maybe you should turn one....:D:D

hughie
29th November 2006, 11:34 AM
[Have a look at www.orchard-woodturners.org.uk (http://www.orchard-woodturners.org.uk/) and select router jigs.
They are designed for a poolwood lathe but could be adopted for others
They are to be used with "normal routers" over the work
Anybody welcome to right click save as.



Fred,


Geez you guys have some fancy workshops over there :D :D

tashammer
30th November 2006, 12:16 AM
Thanks Doughnut, I was gathering the courage to ask the same question.

Your temerity saved me from much approbrium.

Skewy, I've got it now.


that would be "opprobium", shame, shame.



snigger, mad cackle, snort.

Happy amateur
30th November 2006, 12:49 AM
tashammer

We wish.
Our club meets 2nd Saturday of the month in a village hall.
We have to make sure everything is spick and span and packed away before we leave.
That was a demonstration to our club by Stuart Mortimer.
We have 10 professional demonstrators a year.

Fred

tashammer
30th November 2006, 02:46 AM
One of the problems with living in the uk is crowding - little houses and little halls all shared by many folks. Folks in Australia sometimes forget about that. Oh, i don't just mean over crowding caused by too many people, that is there, of course. No, the sort of overcrowding i mean is that caused by history where the aristocracy provided the smallest amount of land to build on so that you end up with streets too narrow to permit two cars abreast. If you are really tall then you can easily begin to feel like a boiled egg at breakfast time as your head repeatedly makes sudden contacts with overhead with low beams. "Oh, yes, see these here beams, they were put here around the time of Rodney II," chirrups the guide. You, mean while, ponder the continuous attack on your skull and keep remembering terms like sub-dural haematoma. And wood? Well, it used to be de rigeur for boys to have sticks - not these days. As soon as a turner sees a piece of wood unattached to anything they are after it like fox after a rabbit.

Happy amateur
1st December 2006, 08:09 AM
We still keep our woman in the kitchen and send little boys up chimneys

Fred

rsser
1st December 2006, 08:28 AM
We still keep our woman in the kitchen and send little boys up chimneys

Fred

Lookshurry.

My woman insists on working.