Indexing tool for Lathe using Degree Wheel

Indexing tool for Lathe using Degree Wheel
Making things better than they were one project at a time.
Work using my Vevor Mini Lathe MX 400. Amateur video work and amateur hobby machinist. Learning and turning

[@RustyInventions-wz6ir]

Very interesting. Nice work

[@deezworkshop]

Thank you very much! After the video was released there were some good suggestions about ways to mark my workpiece. The most obvious thing was I should have used my tool post and a tool to mark my workpiece as I indexed it.

[@trollforge]

Great idea, using a degree wheel. I'll have to pick one up.

[@superrodder2002]

several notes, if you get a larger degree wheel the resolution is better and try to set the pointer up in a position that you can easily look at without any parallax. Also just use the lathe tool in the tool post as your marker.to scribe the lines

[@deezworkshop]

Great suggestions. Thanks for adding them here. I did start using my tool post to mark workpieces. I felt a little silly not thinking of that when filming this video.

[@Immolate62]

MT5 goes from 1.748 at the large side to 1.475 at the small end with a taper length of 5.19. The large end is at the headstock. If I were you, I would take a piece of metal angle, or bend some bar stock in an L shape and then hot glue a magnet to the short side, then use that as your indicator. You could cut it to exactly the right length and taper one or both sides (like a pointer) centered on the wheel so its at the very top of the wheel.

[@deezworkshop]

Great info about the MT5. I hadn't looked up those dimensions before. Good to know. Awesome suggestion. Definitely going to make an L bracket with magnets and a pointer to indicate with that wheel. this will be a good improvement. Then ill use a tool cutter to make my marks instead of the Janky scribe setup I had before. :-)

[@ypaulbrown]

wonderful little video..... one tip that may save you some agony in the future..... .remove your drill chuck from the tailstock with drill bit still in it..... much easier than pulling out the bit from chuck..... the reason I am mentioning , your hand was mighty close to that sharp little bugger in the chuck....and it is very easy to wipe your hand across the flutes and get a very nasty gouge in the back of your hand.....ask me how I know..... cheers from a scarred up old timer down in Florida, Paul

[@deezworkshop]

Great safety tip. I am happy to learn the easy way and not the hard way. Thanks for watching, Cheers from the midwest.

[@user-zu7df7il6s]

I've been thinking of building this exact thing for my Atlas lathe, I was thinking using a clamp system like is on a bicycle seat post to hold it tight and using a HSS sharp pointed tool like has been suggested to mark my parts, I'm enjoying learning things about little lathes with you.

[@deezworkshop]

This one was a great project, Someone suggested scratching my increments using my tool holder and a tool tip. Duh what a great suggestion vs the janky way I did it. lol. It was also suggested to create an expanding mandrel to mount it in the headstock. I may tackle making one of those someday to see how that mounting system goes. As it worked out that plastic rod I had was just the right diameter. Pretty simply project but allows you to get evenly spaced out markings for your workpiece. Good luck.

[@dennythomas8887]

easy scribe lines, and way more precise than the scribe on top of the chip pan ....just lightly drag a sharp tool bit across the part while the bit is mounted in the QCTP. You just touch off the tool like your setting zero for depth of cut. run it in .001 or so and run the carriage back and forth, rotate the 60* (or whatever you need) and repeat until you have all your lines. I used this method a lot before I got my mill.

[@deezworkshop]

I was just thinking about this last night. I should have used the tool cutter to make my mark. Great tip and much easier to do.

[@mattholden5]

I like the degree wheel in the back of the spindle bore. An expanding mandrel from a short section of plastic (or even a hunk of turned wood) would reduce likelihood of accidentally spinning the wheel during the mark up process, A cheap indicator arm with a magnet and a piece of bent wire for a pointer would be easy set up/tear down. The cutting point on your favorite HSS turning tool would give far more repeatable angular resolution than a pick taped to the backsplash. And if spinning the chuck is too coarse for the angles you want to mark, you could put a wrench on the tail end of the leadscrew and drive the head through gear reduction on the banjo. I think you'll find lots of things you want to mark degrees into as you refine and modify what came with that lathe. Even slightly larger degree wheels on the controls make a big difference in your ability to read positions and hit tolerances.

[@deezworkshop]

I already have great ideas from you and others to improve this setup. Definitely making an improved pointer, using tooling to mark my workpiece...duh right, and i like the idea of turning the lead screw for finer adjustments. Although the mounting of the Wheel in the spindle bore is pretty solid I am interested in a mandrel of sorts. Just trying to picture how to make one I am sure its not as complicated as my brain is making it. im thinking expanding like collets but that seems too complicated.

[@mikecrowley3102]

I've made a mandrel to mount the degree wheel. Not too difficult, I can send you some photos of the setup if it would help you Mike

[@mikecrowley3102]

You can use the same mandrel to mount a handle to turn your chuck by hand when cutting threads with a die or for manual , single point screwcutting on your lathe.

[@deezworkshop]

If you wouldn't mind Send me some photos. I am really interested in making one of these madrels.

[@mikecrowley3102]

I've sent you a few pictures that show the mandrel, the disk attached and also a handle added. Any queries , let me know Mike.

[@mikecrowley3102]

In case anybody asks, 'what were degree disk were used for ? ' In modern engines the ignition spark is timed and altered electronically by utilising the info gained from various sensors . In bygone days engine ignition was timed mechanically. A set of contact points when opened allowed the high voltage , accumulated in the ignition coil , to jump to earth , across the terminal gap of the spark plug . This opening of the points was achieved by a lobe on a cam which was indirectly driven by gearing from the crankshaft . To achieve correct combustion this points opening had to occur just before the piston reached the upper limit of its travel in the cylinder (top dead centre or TDC). The factory would publish the correct this timing point in degrees , i.e. 30 degrees before top dead centre (BTDC). So, with a degree disk fixed to the end of the crank or camshaft it was possible to statically 'time' the firing of the engine. First the engine was rotated until the piston was at its highest position , (TDC), and then a mark would be scribed on a static component, next , and the degree disk set to zero or TDC, next , the engine would be rotated backwards until the disk read e.g. 30 degrees before top dead centre, i.e. The timing point . With the crank set at the timing point the points plate was then rotated until the points just opened ,, thus the engine would fire at the correct piston postion. This setting was made more accurately by using a strobe to freeze the timing marks when the engine was running , and make fine adjustment.

[@deezworkshop]

Great explanation. Thanks for posting this info.

[@n1ztb]

Those are called "comparitors". You use them to compare their width to a known measurement device, like calipers, a micrometer, or ruler. 😊

[@n1ztb]

They come in inside and outside varieties.

[@deezworkshop]

Learn something every day. Thanks for sharing and the information.

[@TheMiniMachineShop]

Blue Dykem layout fluid Amazon $12.

[@n1ztb]

The giant blue sharpies work great, too, for some things.