How can I cut splines on a shaft

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bpimm

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Hi all,

I need to spline the end of a shaft to accept a sprocket, I have lathe and mill but I don't have an indexer. I have a collet block that I could cut the initial groove but I'm drawing a blank on how to re-index the shaft to cut the strait sides on the remaining teeth. My thought was to cut the groove then index it 30 degrees and offset both ways to cut the sides parallel and to width.

Would one of the cheap spin indexers work for something like this?

I think it is a parallel key spline, is that correct?

Here is a pic of the sprocket.
IMG_20180529_143245251.jpg
 
You could use the lathe's spindle as an indexer and perhaps a tool post grinder to cut the slots.

Spindexers are cheap but you'll also need at least a 5c collet or some other way of mounting the shaft to it- depending on the diameter of the shaft.
 
I have used a spin indexer and a end mill to do this. I would make a trial shaft for practice
 
A spin indexer would work for six splines. They index in 1º increments.
 
Do you have a V-block and clamp like the one shown? You can mount it to one end of the shaft, and rotate the shaft in the mill vise, using an assortment of angle blocks (or an angle gage) against the flat edge of the V-block to set the angle with respect to your mill table.

VblockClamp.jpg

Ray
 
I made a splined lead screw for the cross slide on my Harrison M300 lathe. The lead screw and nut were worn out, but I was able to buy the nut from an individual in the UK. I bought a piece of LH Acme threaded rod from McMaster-Carr and copied the original. I used a hex collet block to cut the splines. If it's necessary to mill the ridges flat, you can do that in a two-step process. First, cut the splines on the hex collet block 'flat' sides, then the ridges on the 'points' (or vice-versa). It turned out fine. Here are some pix of the old and new side-by-side:

IMG_1196.JPGIMG_1197.JPGIMG_1198.JPG

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Terry
 
So far as milling the parallel sides of a straight sided spline, I use two ganged slitting saws spaced apart on the arbor to the correct width; I cut the required number of slots, then rotate the blank to half the distance of the first series of cuts, then use a plain milling cutter of a width that will remove the intervening material between the flanks of the flats of the spline. As far as indexing the spline, a spin index or a collet block would do the job.
I have also used spline milling cutters that cut the full form of the spline; the spaces between the tooth flanks. These, I got from Ash Gear.
 
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