That took care of the Chinese variables, now, they're out of the equation... Gives you a fine tool with some self teaching along the way, done great. Cheers, Pierre
Rough stuff is quite cheap to make, as you demand more precision, the labor get more intensive, and the cost rises sharply. You just did the expansive part yourself... :-)
Hi Brad We all learn by doing and if we put any effort into it, we all learn from our mistakes. So I guess the difference between myself and the pros is they've made more mistakes. 😊 Here's to us making lots more mistakes in the future. Who knows, maybe we can have fun accidentally coming up with something brilliant. Thanks John
Like Mr. Wander, I question if the bore is square and perpendicular to the base surfaces. In addendum A you indicated in one plane off the spindle bore insuring the casting was being held so the bore was horizontal, but I did not see you indicate the spindle to insure the casting was being held so that the bore was also parallel to the Y axis. Probably doesn't make much difference, but as an exercise should be considered. Nicely done series, thanks.
Morris Gallo Hi Morris - the spindle was indicated and the parallel side was then ground. I flipped it 180 and ground the other side. Then (positioned as if the spindle were a mill's spindle), I placed one of those ground sides against the angle block and the other side in the other block to square up the X & Y. The only plane I didn't indicate was the bottom-flat, as it was ground pretty close. That should cover all of them, unless I missed something?
BasementShopGuy IMO: It could be interesting to mount a cylinder/measuring bar in the spindexer and find out if the mounted piece is level and rotates in the x-axis (like measuring toe-in and camber on a car).
Hi Brad, Nicely done. I am very impressed at how you have improved on the typical Chinese spin indexer. I want to make a similar project because I want to make a more accurate electronic indexing tool that has a cast base. I'm just sad that not once in any of the four videos did you mention the main spindle diameter, nor the thread for when you machined that retention ring (the one process that you lost the video of)... Now, since I don't have a surface grinder, how will I true up my surfaces once I indicate the spindle bore for true... maybe scraping, well at least for the base anyway. I'll also add an indexing key to the base that aligns with the center keyway on my mill. If you get a second in your shop, can you measure that main spindle diameter please?
Nice project. Watched all 4 videos, kept thinking one thing, and at 14:00 of this last video you made my comment, nothing belongs on your granite block except the part your measuring and your measurment equipment. Build a shelf on each side of your granite block table to hold extra parts. Get a movers blanket from Harbor Freight and modify it to make a cover for you block. Other than that, can I live in your basement? :-)
.....taking a tool, if you can call some of them that, when sold as is, and truing up any surface on it is a great exercise in machining, and with out a doubt, improved the quality and accuracy of the tool........not time wasted here. like that beautiful 13"SB lathe of yours.......when it left the factory,...it was an fine accurate machine, but was built by a worker at his job, getting paid............not assembled, with time being taken, and care, given attention to detail as you did......better than factory IMO......
BasementShopGuy ....heh heh heh.......I appreciate the time it takes to post the videos, do the work......not sure why others dont see that, or feel the need to belittle that.......water off a ducks back!
Hi Brad, nice work improving the "low precision" spindexer. You have the base squared and parallel, but I was wondering how true the edges of the casting is with the bore and spindle as I do not recall seeing you check that or did I miss that somewhere along the way? You may want to look at using a spray dry moly as a lube as it protects from rust as well as lubricates and dirt and grime does not stick to it. Thanks for taking the time and effort to produce this series and share your experience as it is truly appreciated. Peace!
Jeffrey Vastine Hey jeff. Yeah, I have the spindle parallel and square in all directions. There are 4 parts to this project and it came together a little rough, but all sides/planes were thought out and checked. First, one side was indicated parallel to the spindle. Then, I flipped 180 and ground that side. Next, I placed the ground side against a 90-angle block - in TWO axis (X & Y) if you can picture that (see Addendum B, right in the beginning). The bottom plane wasn't ground because it was within .0003 (3 tenths), which for (my) kind of work, is perfectly fine. I suppose I could have ground the bottom to within a tenth or 2, but decided not to since 3 is ok.
nice work now you deserve to peal that Chinese name plate off and put your name on that spindexer, and not that you need more projects but with your woodworking back ground i would make a wooden cover for your rock.. especially with limited space. Thanks for sharing.ron
Andy Wander If you've seen all the videos in the series, you'll see where I indicate the spindle in, then work off those two sides to establish square. The bottom checked out AOK within .0002 (which is fine with me).
Isn't the import part that the bore is square to the other surfaces, I only saw you square the ends to the bottom without regard to the bore. Or did I miss something?
I don;t control the commercials bud... A last-word .001 indicator, is not the correct choice for high precision metrology. When you surface grind, do you use a 1000th's indicator?
kooldoozer I don't know to be honest. But it's not needed since it will be clamped in the vise or bolted to the table on the mill, then the table will be moved around to located the center of the workpiece.
Just thought I would mention... I have seen some guys turn the spindle around so the 5C collet is at the opposite end of the index plate. This puts the plate more out of the way of work being done. I think it is a smart thing. What say ye?
kooldoozer that would make sense where the extra clearance would be needed, other than that you're compromising the stability of the spindle and collet allowing for vibration/harmonics..that can be tough on a grinding wheel
kooldoozer I don't understand how that would work? If I reversed the spindle. it might not even register in the casting (not sure if the recess is the same on both ends) and rear-end of the casting doesn't have the holes to lock the index plate, so the spindle would just spin freely, aside from using the locking nut. But maybe I'm missing your point totally?
My worry on this one - how true is the outside of the spindle to the inside if the spindle. I've been looking at mine, and that is my current worry, and what to do if that is out
The only thing that matters on this is the bottom of the casting in relationship to the boar nothing Else matters one bit. You're never going to need to indicate off of the sides or off of the front edges or any of the front surfaces the only thing that matters is the the bored in relationship with the spindle the only way to properly check that would be to put a Khalid in it and put a piece of ground steel or a gauge pin protruding out of that spindle and indicate that in comparison with the bottom I don't want to sound like an ass whole but you're wasting a hell of a lot of your time
That took care of the Chinese variables, now, they're out of the equation...
Gives you a fine tool with some self teaching along the way, done great.
Cheers, Pierre
pierre beaudry Thanks Pierre. It's not too bad actually for $35. It seems to be missing those few steps that other makers take to get dialed in.
Rough stuff is quite cheap to make, as you demand more precision, the labor get more intensive, and the cost rises sharply. You just did the expansive part yourself... :-)
That looks like it will work a lot better now, than they way it came from the factory.
1970chevelle396 Yeah, I agree. Gotta find some good uses for it now ;)
Nice wrap up, Brad.
Thanks
John
John Bazaar Thanks John. I wished it took less time than it did, lol.
Hi Brad
We all learn by doing and if we put any effort into it, we all learn from our mistakes.
So I guess the difference between myself and the pros is they've made more mistakes.
😊
Here's to us making lots more mistakes in the future.
Who knows, maybe we can have fun accidentally coming up with something brilliant.
Thanks
John
excellent work Brad. looking forward to seeing you use it in upcoming projects.
John (a.k.a...ShadeTree Machinist)
ShadeTree Machinist Thanks John!
Nicely done Brad...! I'll follow your lead with my spin-thingy's... :-) Cheers, Daniel
***** Thanks Dan, glad it as helpful and I hope you get yours dialed in.
I was thinking to do a lever lock with threaded brass but it's ok for now, just a future upgrade
great vid thanks for the tips!
Nice tool, good work all around. Thanks for the video.
cerberus Thanks Cerb, appreciate it. More vids coming ;)
Super sweet tool to use now Brad ! Great job ..
ShawnMrFixit Lee Thanks Shawn, appreciate it ;)
Hi Brad !
Really nice work all over !
Keld Sørensen Thanks Keld - was challenging at times ;)
Like Mr. Wander, I question if the bore is square and perpendicular to the base surfaces. In addendum A you indicated in one plane off the spindle bore insuring the casting was being held so the bore was horizontal, but I did not see you indicate the spindle to insure the casting was being held so that the bore was also parallel to the Y axis. Probably doesn't make much difference, but as an exercise should be considered. Nicely done series, thanks.
Morris Gallo Hi Morris - the spindle was indicated and the parallel side was then ground. I flipped it 180 and ground the other side. Then (positioned as if the spindle were a mill's spindle), I placed one of those ground sides against the angle block and the other side in the other block to square up the X & Y. The only plane I didn't indicate was the bottom-flat, as it was ground pretty close. That should cover all of them, unless I missed something?
BasementShopGuy IMO: It could be interesting to mount a cylinder/measuring bar in the spindexer and find out if the mounted piece is level and rotates in the x-axis (like measuring toe-in and camber on a car).
Citronitroify yeah it'd be interesting to see. I don't have the tools to do that though. I'm trying to clean up a cheap spindexer and make it better.
Great series Brad,
Jim
Hi Brad,
Nicely done. I am very impressed at how you have improved on the typical Chinese spin indexer. I want to make a similar project because I want to make a more accurate electronic indexing tool that has a cast base.
I'm just sad that not once in any of the four videos did you mention the main spindle diameter, nor the thread for when you machined that retention ring (the one process that you lost the video of)...
Now, since I don't have a surface grinder, how will I true up my surfaces once I indicate the spindle bore for true... maybe scraping, well at least for the base anyway. I'll also add an indexing key to the base that aligns with the center keyway on my mill.
If you get a second in your shop, can you measure that main spindle diameter please?
Nice project.
Watched all 4 videos, kept thinking one thing, and at 14:00 of this last video you made my comment, nothing belongs on your granite block except the part your measuring and your measurment equipment. Build a shelf on each side of your granite block table to hold extra parts. Get a movers blanket from Harbor Freight and modify it to make a cover for you block.
Other than that, can I live in your basement? :-)
.....taking a tool, if you can call some of them that, when sold as is, and truing up any surface on it is a great exercise in machining, and with out a doubt, improved the quality and accuracy of the tool........not time wasted here. like that beautiful 13"SB lathe of yours.......when it left the factory,...it was an fine accurate machine, but was built by a worker at his job, getting paid............not assembled, with time being taken, and care, given attention to detail as you did......better than factory IMO......
Rick L I always love your comments Rick. I get some (not so nice) and yours always makes me feel like I'm not crazy ;)
BasementShopGuy ....heh heh heh.......I appreciate the time it takes to post the videos, do the work......not sure why others dont see that, or feel the need to belittle that.......water off a ducks back!
Rick L Thanks Rick. Hey - what kind of lathe do you own, is it a South Bend?
BasementShopGuy 1960 SB 13 x52....yes sir.
Hi Brad, nice work improving the "low precision" spindexer. You have the base squared and parallel, but I was wondering how true the edges of the casting is with the bore and spindle as I do not recall seeing you check that or did I miss that somewhere along the way? You may want to look at using a spray dry moly as a lube as it protects from rust as well as lubricates and dirt and grime does not stick to it. Thanks for taking the time and effort to produce this series and share your experience as it is truly appreciated.
Peace!
Jeffrey Vastine Hey jeff. Yeah, I have the spindle parallel and square in all directions. There are 4 parts to this project and it came together a little rough, but all sides/planes were thought out and checked. First, one side was indicated parallel to the spindle. Then, I flipped 180 and ground that side. Next, I placed the ground side against a 90-angle block - in TWO axis (X & Y) if you can picture that (see Addendum B, right in the beginning). The bottom plane wasn't ground because it was within .0003 (3 tenths), which for (my) kind of work, is perfectly fine. I suppose I could have ground the bottom to within a tenth or 2, but decided not to since 3 is ok.
Good work, Brad!
***** Thanks Bob.
nice work now you deserve to peal that Chinese name plate off and put your name on that spindexer, and not that you need more projects but with your woodworking back ground i would make a wooden cover for your rock.. especially with limited space. Thanks for sharing.ron
Ron Schmaltz Thanks Ron, sounds like a good idea!
How do you know the spindle bore is perpendicular and square to the side and the bottom faces of the base?
Andy Wander If you've seen all the videos in the series, you'll see where I indicate the spindle in, then work off those two sides to establish square. The bottom checked out AOK within .0002 (which is fine with me).
BasementShopGuy Ahh, thanks, I missed that.
Isn't the import part that the bore is square to the other surfaces, I only saw you square the ends to the bottom without regard to the bore. Or did I miss something?
I don;t control the commercials bud... A last-word .001 indicator, is not the correct choice for high precision metrology. When you surface grind, do you use a 1000th's indicator?
Could I ask what software you used on the spindexer. It looked like really good program. Thank you.
I saw that you ground the sides parallel to the spindle bore, but are they equal distances from the spindle centerline? --Doozer
kooldoozer I don't know to be honest. But it's not needed since it will be clamped in the vise or bolted to the table on the mill, then the table will be moved around to located the center of the workpiece.
Just thought I would mention...
I have seen some guys turn the spindle around so the 5C collet is at the opposite end of the index plate. This puts the plate more out of the way of work being done. I think it is a smart thing. What say ye?
kooldoozer that would make sense where the extra clearance would be needed, other than that you're compromising the stability of the spindle and collet allowing for vibration/harmonics..that can be tough on a grinding wheel
kooldoozer I don't understand how that would work? If I reversed the spindle. it might not even register in the casting (not sure if the recess is the same on both ends) and rear-end of the casting doesn't have the holes to lock the index plate, so the spindle would just spin freely, aside from using the locking nut. But maybe I'm missing your point totally?
The index wheel gets moved to the non-collet side of the spindle. It still interfaces with the vernier holes in the casting.
My worry on this one - how true is the outside of the spindle to the inside if the spindle. I've been looking at mine, and that is my current worry, and what to do if that is out
brad nice video.
Robert Kutz Thanks Rob ;)
Now it is a machinist tool before it was (close enough good enough)
good job
Colin Samms Thanks Colin, I sure hope it helps it and when I use it, it'll be as close to "on" as possible.
top job
tonche012 Thanks!
The only thing that matters on this is the bottom of the casting in relationship to the boar nothing Else matters one bit. You're never going to need to indicate off of the sides or off of the front edges or any of the front surfaces the only thing that matters is the the bored in relationship with the spindle the only way to properly check that would be to put a Khalid in it and put a piece of ground steel or a gauge pin protruding out of that spindle and indicate that in comparison with the bottom
I don't want to sound like an ass whole but you're wasting a hell of a lot of your time