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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
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    Revesby - Sydney Australia
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    56
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    Default Cheap depth stop for your chuck/spindle

    I was machining some spacers, and wanted an easy way to position them the same depth in the chuck jaws (for machining the parted-off side to length).

    Looked at a few over-complicated in-spindle stops, decided that I didn't have time to make one that clamps/locks inside the spindle. So, looked around at my scrap for something to cobble together.


    Amusingly, an old tap spindle is a close fit for the Hercus spindle:
    IMG_1635.jpg

    Mount that in the chuck, ready for machining to spindle bore:
    IMG_1636.jpg
    (as soon as I get those stringy spirals of swarf out of the QCTP).


    It turns out that this spindle nut, er, spigot nut, doesn't have a single parallel axis in it. So, I re-grab in the threaded part (that I will be machining down), to machine the opposite side:
    IMG_1637.jpg


    then I grab that now co-axial side, and machine the thread away to fit the spindle end:
    IMG_1638.jpg

    tap it out to M12 coarse:
    IMG_1639.jpg


    and put it on some threaded bar (that I occasionally use to bolt items onto/into the chuck):
    IMG_1640.jpg



    I just shoved the bar+brass end down into the spindle, twisted the rod for the correct depth, and pushed the work piece against the other end of the threaded rod:
    IMG_1641.jpg


    Turning the lathe on will unwind the threaded rod, so I just pull the whole thing out before machining anything.

    As long as I didn't twist the rod too much, depth setting seems accurate to about 5 thou, but a few lock nuts help with that:
    IMG_1646.jpg IMG_1647.jpg

    The long hex thing (a joiner) is just small enough to fit down the spindle. A standard M12 nut is not.
    I also used a few of them to make the stop end larger than the bare M12 rod:
    IMG_1645.jpg






    For this particular job, a chuck spider would have done the job, or external jaws in a small chuck. I also thought about using an old MT3 arbor:
    IMG_1648.jpg

    and machining a thread or sliding stop into it (like this):
    homemade-lathe-depth-stop.jpg

    but I suspect the arbor is hard steel, and will be difficult to drill (and/or tap)
    Last edited by nigelpearson; 27th Jun 2021 at 02:31 AM. Reason: missing images

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Southern Highlands NSW
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    1,894

    Default

    Thanks for that.
    Is it that your work stop is not fixed to the spindle in any way, and used loose?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
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    Revesby - Sydney Australia
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    56
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by nadroj View Post
    Thanks for that.
    Is it that your work stop is not fixed to the spindle in any way, and used loose?

    Correct.

    'tis just used for setting the piece in the chuck, and then slid out carefully before starting the lathe and making chips/swarf.


    If I was leaving it in the spindle while machining, a few O-rings and/or some tape to make it a tighter fit would stop it rattling around?

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