Needs Pictures: 0
Results 1 to 15 of 20
Thread: 5C Spin Indexer Modifications
-
20th Nov 2019, 12:52 PM #1.
- Join Date
- Nov 2008
- Location
- Perth WA
- Age
- 71
- Posts
- 6,459
5C Spin Indexer Modifications
I purchased an indexer from forum member Rod Mell and to render it usable on my little mill it required a few alterations. As supplied the front and rear faces of the main body casting are machined but the sides of the base are left as cast. Great for a magnetic chuck and probably useable if held in a large vice but pretty much useless on my mill.
So I machined the edges parallel with and centred on the spindle centreline.
IMG_20191003_163417266 (Large).jpg IMG_20191004_102245821 (Large).jpg
Then I machined and spot faced a pair of hold down slots. Some of the paint and filler chipped off during the spot facing so I removed all the paint and most of the filler.
IMG_20191005_105432858 (Large).jpg IMG_20191006_150341815 (Large).jpg
The front and rear faces and their counterbores were not very accurate so I used my boring head for both flycutting and facing to improve those surfaces.
IMG_20191007_160335319 (Large).jpg IMG_20191007_162537538 (Large).jpg IMG_20191022_102627602 (Large).jpg
I then machined a keyway and made a pair of keys to suit the mill's 12mm wide tee slots.
IMG_20191009_150124565 (Large).jpg IMG_20191009_162336027 (Large).jpg IMG_20191020_084650806 (Large).jpg
The indexing plate threaded lock ring was poorly made, the internal diameter of the ring was the same as most of the spindle's thread OD with engagement of one thread when the ring was screwed up against the plate. A replacement was made from 4140 with holes to facilitate the use of a proper pin spanner for tightening. I also made a replacement rear ring. The original was a loose wobbling fit and its role is to set the end play in the spindle. The new ring has a few tenths clearance and end play is easily set.
IMG_20191014_161756260 (Large).jpg IMG_20191015_133747049 (Large).jpg
And then there is to my mind the most important modification, a spindle lock. Having come unstuck before when a workpiece rotated while milling with disasterous results, there was no way that an M12 threaded aluminium thumbscrew was going to cope with two horsepower. I toyed with the idea of some sort of split clamp that bolted to the rear of the casting then decided on the simple solution of using a split cotter. Machined from 4E cast iron and secured with an M8 cap screw, it locks the spindle solid.
IMG_20191023_140702767 (Large).jpg IMG_20191024_144918981 (Large).jpg IMG_20191030_133623400 (Large).jpg
And finally, the reason for all this fooling around....
IMG_20191008_140244390 (Large).jpg
Bob.
-
20th Nov 2019, 03:14 PM #2Golden Member
- Join Date
- Sep 2008
- Location
- Riddells Creek, Vic.
- Posts
- 838
Nice work Bob, I might add the spindle locking idea to my spin indexer.
-
20th Nov 2019, 04:16 PM #3.
- Join Date
- Nov 2008
- Location
- Perth WA
- Age
- 71
- Posts
- 6,459
Thank you Lex.
There are undoubtedly many ways of skinning this cat but here's how I machined the radius in the cotter. I centred a good fitting bore sized plug using one scope then used another to align the boring head's cutter with the edge of the plug. Worked out well enough.
IMG_20191024_075047647 (Large).jpg IMG_20191024_093010129 (Large).jpg IMG_20191024_120910331 (Large).jpg
-
20th Nov 2019, 09:03 PM #4
Hi Bob, Guys,
Nice work there !
I've looked at buying a spin indexer several times, but never been happy with the appearance and the slop in them. Your work answers all those issues.Best Regards:
Baron J.
-
20th Nov 2019, 09:33 PM #5Most Valued Member
- Join Date
- Nov 2017
- Location
- Geelong, Australia
- Age
- 57
- Posts
- 2,671
Nice work !!
Steve
-
20th Nov 2019, 10:26 PM #6.
- Join Date
- Nov 2008
- Location
- Perth WA
- Age
- 71
- Posts
- 6,459
Thanks John,
I would never have gone out of my way to buy one but Rod offered me his at a bargain price so I thought why not. Little did I know the extent of the work involved in rendering the thing useful!
I also bought the tailstock. It's a big awkward looking thing and takes up way too much room on the mill's little table so I'm seriously considering adapting the home made tailstock of my 3 1/2" Hercus dividing head to suit the 70mm centre height of the spin indexer. The pretend Hercus tailstock is adjustable vertically.
IMG_20191110_144703902 (Large).jpg IMG_20191110_172302774 (Large).jpg
-
21st Nov 2019, 07:17 AM #7Philomath in training
- Join Date
- Oct 2011
- Location
- Norwood-ish, Adelaide
- Age
- 59
- Posts
- 6,561
My dividing head tailstock is vertically adjustable too, but for some reason no manufacturers have devised a controlled way of making that adjustment - when trying to get the centre heights level that can be a right pain. In the past I've used bits of clamping kit as a screw jack.
I'll be very interested if you can come up with a way of integrating a vertical adjustment. Currently it's one of those 'adjust at last resort' things because it is so fiddly to get back to parallel.
Michael
-
21st Nov 2019, 10:06 AM #8.
- Join Date
- Nov 2008
- Location
- Perth WA
- Age
- 71
- Posts
- 6,459
Michael,
If I position an adjustable parallel set to 1.656" between the TS base and body I achieve parallelism, alignment horizontally with the headstock centreline and repeatability. Hercus used a small removable locating dowel to provide alignment of the body when the tailstock was used in the horizontal position. These photos were taken prior to me making and fitting the dowel.
IMG_20191110_172318890 (Large).jpg IMG_20191115_151616513 (Large).jpg IMG_20191110_172158495 (Large).jpg IMG_20191115_155307421.jpg
I will need to make a spacer to offset the body of the tailstock for it to align with the spin indexer's vertical centreline when it's keyed into the 13's table. I will probably make a simple cylindrical spacer to facilitate the setting of the body at 70mm centre height though an adjustable parallel would do the same job.
Easy peasy.
-
21st Nov 2019, 11:12 AM #9Most Valued Member
- Join Date
- Jun 2007
- Location
- sydney ( st marys )
- Age
- 64
- Posts
- 4,890
Why not just make packers that fit under your Tailstock to suit the centre heights of your rotary table/dividing head to suit.
-
21st Nov 2019, 07:46 PM #10.
- Join Date
- Nov 2008
- Location
- Perth WA
- Age
- 71
- Posts
- 6,459
-
21st Nov 2019, 08:00 PM #11.
- Join Date
- Nov 2008
- Location
- Perth WA
- Age
- 71
- Posts
- 6,459
Adapted...
Today I made a spacer to offset the tailstock body the 9.25mm I established I would require using the centring microscope. I started using 1020 and finished using a piece of cast iron. The former detached itself from the chuck when I crept in just a little bit too hard. Often the way....
IMG_20191121_101212718 (1) (Large).jpg IMG_20191121_152957562 (Large).jpg IMG_20191121_154732240 (Large).jpg IMG_20191121_154748029 (Large).jpg IMG_20191121_162045505 (Large).jpg IMG_20191121_162109915 (Large).jpg
IMG_20191121_162204745 (Large).jpg
The TS centre is on the left, the scope reverses the image.
-
21st Nov 2019, 08:34 PM #12
Hi Bob,
Daft question ! What is the angle on the adjustable parallels ?Best Regards:
Baron J.
-
21st Nov 2019, 09:08 PM #13Philomath in training
- Join Date
- Oct 2011
- Location
- Norwood-ish, Adelaide
- Age
- 59
- Posts
- 6,561
Hmm. All I need now is the adjustable parallel...
(Shaper gauge?)
From memory (the tailstock is in a cupboard several wheeled storage cabinets deep), mine has a rough base and rounded bottom piece but it could be done if I cleaned up the surfaces. I could possibly
use one of my machinist's jacks set to the right height as well.
A packer would do it, but I have a habit of losing small undistinguished pieces of metal made expressly for purposes like that. I was also hoping to uncover a way to vary the tailstock height so that if the dividing head is on an angle or raised up on some parallels (I had to do that for an 11" gear I was cutting once), I could get the TS to adjust readily.
Bob's solution is a neat and elegant one, but does not have the flexibility and ease of adjustment that I would prefer. It has however provided a few things to think about and potential solutions to investigate.
Michael
-
21st Nov 2019, 09:09 PM #14.
- Join Date
- Nov 2008
- Location
- Perth WA
- Age
- 71
- Posts
- 6,459
-
22nd Nov 2019, 01:12 AM #15
Hi Bob,
Thanks for that info ! So anything around 8 to 10 degrees will work OK.
I'm assuming 6 to 8 mm steel plate would be fine to use to make a pair.Best Regards:
Baron J.
Similar Threads
-
Bearing spin
By phaser in forum METALWORK GENERALReplies: 7Last Post: 4th Apr 2019, 02:42 PM -
X2 Modifications
By KBs PensNmore in forum METALWORK GENERALReplies: 9Last Post: 23rd Jan 2015, 06:35 PM -
Frozen Spin Index Spindle
By electrosteam in forum METALWORK GENERALReplies: 7Last Post: 16th May 2013, 02:36 PM -
Spin Test
By Stustoys in forum METALWORK GENERALReplies: 17Last Post: 18th Apr 2013, 11:58 PM -
Scraping, the spin test.
By Ueee in forum METALWORK GENERALReplies: 10Last Post: 5th Mar 2013, 11:07 AM