Anybody with a homemade indexing wheel

[DPittman]

Hey folks,
I'm tossing around the idea of making an indexing wheel for my little lathe and would like to gather ideas from others. I have an indexing wheel I made out of an old 33 vinyl album and it actually works quite well but I can not lock my spindle in place with it. I would like to make something a little more rigid with a drop in pin to hold the spindle in place.

I'm thinking something very similar to this

Any suggestions?

Don

 

[YYCHM]

This is one I made up for my mini-lathe. Seems to work ok as long as I index to the correct tooth LOL.

 

[DPittman]

Hey that's very similar to how I was thinking about doing it! I plan on making my own wheel but unsure of how many holes and divisions I need. I also don't really have the pin fully figured out but I was hoping to attach to the lathe in a very similar way as you have done!

 

[Johnwa]

I have seen pictures where someone has drilled indexing holes in their chuck back plate. That way the index wheel is always mounted, at least if you’re using that chuck.
Another option I’ve seen is to mount a protractor on the end of the spindle. It didn’t have any way of locking the spindle though. I did see this protractor at Princess auto that would work,
https://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/timing-degree-wheel/A-p8514721e

 

[DPittman]

Seems like a lot of trial and error.

I have seen pictures where someone has drilled indexing holes in their chuck back plate. That way the index wheel is always mounted, at least if you’re using that chuck.
Another option I’ve seen is to mount a protractor on the end of the spindle. It didn’t have any way of locking the spindle though. I did see this protractor at Princess auto that would work,
https://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/timing-degree-wheel/A-p8514721e

Yes that is essentially what I did with the old lp album, I printed off a degree wheel and applied it to the lp. I have 360 degrees on one side and 50 divisions on the other. The large size of the wheel helps with accuracy. I run it out the back of the spindle and just use a magnetic pointer for the indicator. I just wish I could pin my spindle in place somehow

 

[YYCHM]

I did see this protractor at Princess auto that would work,
https://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/timing-degree-wheel/A-p8514721e

Great find there! I looked high and low for just that very thing and came up empty handed. May have to revisit my indexer now.

As for the gear approach a smaller properly timed gear could be meshed in and friction locked to hold the index.

I imagine a rotary table or rapid indexer or spin indexor could be employed if coupled to the spindle some how.

 

[DPittman]

So I'm trying to figure out if there is a magical combination of indexing holes to have. On my lp wheel I had 360 degrees and 50 divisions which was nice but I know I'm not going to be drilling that many holes. I guess the most divisions I possibly can is the right thing...no?

 

[Bofobo]

A youtuber u watch ZYNUDU is the channel name has an interesting way of using paper with divisions, its not worth explaining when you can watch the videos but ut seems like a great way to do it

 

[DPittman]

A youtuber u watch ZYNUDU is the channel name has an interesting way of using paper with divisions, its not worth explaining when you can watch the videos but ut seems like a great way to do it

Yes I essentially do the same thing (but without the USB scope). However I want to beagle to lock my spindle in place and that method does not help with that at all.