- Joined
- Jan 4, 2014
- Messages
- 37
I've always referred to these things as a collet index, but that's probably not really the right name for it. At any rate, I see them used at work in the tool room, as well as in the QA lab. This one had been sitting around unused for a couple of years so one of the tool room guys asked if I wanted to get it out of their way. Price was right, so I brought it home, thinking I might be able to figure out ways to put it to work in my dungeon.
I don't have a milling machine, but I do have a lathe and a shaper (South Bend 9A and an Atlas 7B). I also don't have an abundance of skill in this field, I can do enough to get by and keep my old motors together and running, and that's about it.
I made some T-nuts and drilled holes in the base of the spin index so I could have a simple way to clamp it down on the shaper table. Sometimes I have to machine my own fasteners, and I thought maybe the index would be an easy way to cut squares, flats, or hexes on the shaper.
Then I figured out that by taking 3/16" off the index base, the axis od the collet spindle would line up perfectly with the spindle of the South Bend lathe, so after shaving the base off on a Bridgeport at the plant, I machined an adapter to allow it to mount onto the compound slide. I've used it a couple of times for milling keyways in propeller shafts for antique outboard motor projects I'm working on. I like it because I don't have to measure anything to line up the centre of any shaft, as long as it fits in the collet, the tool in the spindle is always lined up with the centreline of the work piece. If I have to hack out a keyway or slot, I use a micrometer adjustable stop to control the depth. In this case, I was milling a 3/32" key slot so I had to take it pretty easy on the depth of each pass.
It works OK for me, it's not fast or terribly efficient time-wise, but it seems to be accurate enough. There's probably better ways to do this, even without a Bridgeport handy, but I'm never in a rush anyway, those 1914 era boat motors don't seem to anxious to get away before they get all their parts put back on.
Best,
T2
I don't have a milling machine, but I do have a lathe and a shaper (South Bend 9A and an Atlas 7B). I also don't have an abundance of skill in this field, I can do enough to get by and keep my old motors together and running, and that's about it.
I made some T-nuts and drilled holes in the base of the spin index so I could have a simple way to clamp it down on the shaper table. Sometimes I have to machine my own fasteners, and I thought maybe the index would be an easy way to cut squares, flats, or hexes on the shaper.
Then I figured out that by taking 3/16" off the index base, the axis od the collet spindle would line up perfectly with the spindle of the South Bend lathe, so after shaving the base off on a Bridgeport at the plant, I machined an adapter to allow it to mount onto the compound slide. I've used it a couple of times for milling keyways in propeller shafts for antique outboard motor projects I'm working on. I like it because I don't have to measure anything to line up the centre of any shaft, as long as it fits in the collet, the tool in the spindle is always lined up with the centreline of the work piece. If I have to hack out a keyway or slot, I use a micrometer adjustable stop to control the depth. In this case, I was milling a 3/32" key slot so I had to take it pretty easy on the depth of each pass.
It works OK for me, it's not fast or terribly efficient time-wise, but it seems to be accurate enough. There's probably better ways to do this, even without a Bridgeport handy, but I'm never in a rush anyway, those 1914 era boat motors don't seem to anxious to get away before they get all their parts put back on.
Best,
T2
)
