Thread: Hercus Indexer - Photos for Joe.

There is not much to it. A 3 Morse taper internally. The indexing plate was purchased as a blank disc and required the milling of the 24 division grooves. The original plate has the divisions numbered. There are brass pads beneath both set screws. As mentioned in a previous post, an improvement(?) may have been a threaded spindle nose but it would have meant the loss of valuable working clearance between the indexer nose and lathe centerline. Hercus provided a threaded arbour as an option. Because of the space limitation, I have only used the device with 3C collets.

Joe, if you require more dimensions, please let me know.

BT

Thank you very much Bob!
That is a nice piece of gear - and so simple in principal.
I guess you could make several plates with different numbers of slots to achieve different simple divisors.
Cheers,
Joe

I made a threaded piece to accept the 3 jaw chuck for use in the tailstock of the lathe, to hold dies large taps large drills & the like.
Tried it today in the indexer using a 2 to 3 MT sleeve, for use in the mill.
The overhang is a little too much & need to make a dedicated threaded piece for the chuck with a 3MT machined to fit into the indexer.
However this Hercus Indexer has increased versatility.
Bruce

Along the lines of what I was thinking Bruce but the extension is a bit much. My thought was to use the ER40 collet chuck to get everything a bit closer and also make more use of it.

Originally Posted by localele

Along the lines of what I was thinking Bruce but the extension is a bit much. My thought was to use the ER40 collet chuck to get everything a bit closer and also make more use of it.

Micheal
Just been evaluating the 3 jaw chuck machining a trial keyway indexed 90 degrees around a shaft, each time. All went well but I do need to machine up a better chuck mount with a draw bar.
Most of my work will be catered for using the 3C collets which accept all workpieces in the indexer up to 1/2" dia.
The collets are a good rigid holding method & fit within the indexing head.(No overhang)
The ER40 collets would work well, I believe.
regards
Bruce

A few more options for reducing the overhang. The 3 Morse 1 1/2" x 8 arbor is a cut down 260 original. Cost me $72 in 2004. ( more money than sense ) It is nothing special just soft gumby 1214.

Yes that little chuck looks good Bob.
Is the operation of the wedge a firm enough hold for light milling ?

Bob
I also like the idea of the small Sherline chuck in your photo (I Think it may have a bit of bearing blue on it from another job)
May look for something along the same idea..
I was thinking of a draw bar perhaps the same one I use for the collets to hold in the
3MT extension from the chuck. Got a bit nervous today when testing my rig in, a milling trial, in case the chuck started to move or come out of its seating.
Could you please lets know the diameter of the Sherline chuck? It could be possibly mounted on its own 3C machined adaptor piece, in conjunction with the 3C draw bar, if you get what I mean.
This set up has a lot of potential apart from its use in milling on the lathe.
regards
Bruce

I am thinking the same way Bruce. I have a NT30 adaptor that I use to run a grindstone in the Mill and it would be more than capable of replicating your cylindrical grinding efforts. With the DRO as measurement and careful grinding it could be very useful.It would be nice to present the job from an Indexer and using the Myford milling slide rather than tilting the head of the mill.

Very nice dooverlakies there Anorak Bob and Abratool, compact quick indexer would come in very handy indeed.
Anyone out there who has a spare one and wants to trade it for the good folding stuff just let me know

Cheers.

If I'm not right, then I'm wrong, I'll just go bend some more bananas.

Originally Posted by localele

Yes that little chuck looks good Bob.
Is the operation of the wedge a firm enough hold for light milling ?

Micheal,

The wedge, secured by means of the thumbscrew, will not move. However on my other mill's simple dividing head, the indexing plate is retained by only a spring loaded pawl. That machine is 4 times more powerful than the Hercus. It has not moved.

BT

Originally Posted by Abratool

Bob
I also like the idea of the small Sherline chuck in your photo (I Think it may have a bit of bearing blue on it from another job)
May look for something along the same idea..
I was thinking of a draw bar perhaps the same one I use for the collets to hold in the
3MT extension from the chuck. Got a bit nervous today when testing my rig in, a milling trial, in case the chuck started to move or come out of its seating.
Could you please lets know the diameter of the Sherline chuck? It could be possibly mounted on its own 3C machined adaptor piece, in conjunction with the 3C draw bar, if you get what I mean.
This set up has a lot of potential apart from its use in milling on the lathe.
regards
Bruce

Bruce,

The Hercus arbor is threaded to accommodate a 1/2" BSW draw bar.

The Sherline chuck is a bitty 2 1/2 inches in diameter. What about a straight shank arbor as an alternative to the 3C. Maybe 1/2" and mount the thing in a collet.

Unimat chucks are a similar size and may be more readily available but they do have a metric mounting thread. M14 x 1 I think but I may be wrong. Do you have transposing gears?

BT

Below is a link to a Spin Indexer with Tailstock which looks interesting.They are cheap enough at $62US and I have seen the Indexer by itself for $40US.There is a more expensive version (65Pound) which also has an ER32 collet adapter.Would seem to be a cheap alternative with plenty of meat to drill some mounting holes.

5C Spin Index Fixture w. Tailstock--new | eBay

Originally Posted by Anorak Bob

Bruce,

The Hercus arbor is threaded to accommodate a 1/2" BSW draw bar.

The Sherline chuck is a bitty 2 1/2 inches in diameter. What about a straight shank arbor as an alternative to the 3C. Maybe 1/2" and mount the thing in a collet.

Unimat chucks are a similar size and may be more readily available but they do have a metric mounting thread. M14 x 1 I think but I may be wrong. Do you have transposing gears?

BT

The straight 1/2" arbor would be a good idea to fit into the 3C collet.
I got a set of metric transposing gears sometime back from Pipeclay, & they are handy for screwcutting metric.on the Hercus. Ive used them a few times.
The Oriental H & F 3 jaw, 80mm dia chuck would be a possibility for the indexer set up, its got a 16mm bore & accepts work from 2mm to 25mm dia. At $130 not bad.
So far my experience with Fuerda chucks has been good.
I could machine a steel backplate with 1/2" spigot to fit into the 3C collet.
Thanks for the idea.
Bruce