daugen
Epic Contributor
me too, and that's only his lawn mower! Automotive ****, just marvelous, life in the very, very, very fast lane.
Todays shop time.
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me too, and that's only his lawn mower! Automotive ****, just marvelous, life in the very, very, very fast lane.
ptsg
Super Member
So I've wanted a rotary table or indexing head for the milling machine for quite some time, but the prices go all over the place. Then I started looking on what I had laying around that could be useful and decided to build an indexing head out of some random parts that I've found. Worst case scenario, I would do a fine rotary welding positioner.
The idea here is to use a worm drive box that I had for years and mount a 3 jaw chuck on one side and mount a stepper motor on the other side. The stepper motor will be controlled by an Arduino with a LCD shield that will allow me to get really accurate divisions, specially with the odd 12,5:1 ratio on the worm drive. This just makes everything simpler as I couldn't have accurately made the indexing hole plates I would go for the conventional way.
The indexing head can work on either vertical or horizontal position and I built a brake that will clamp the spindle in place. The chuck I had here is huge for this project. It's a 8" R?m chuck. A 5" or maybe a 6" chuck would be ideally. But I didn't want to spend the money on that. This entire project cost me 40$ and that was all the electronics.
Here are most of the parts:
Machining the base of the worm drive housing flat on the lathe:
First mock up and test with just a drill:
And the electronics and final stage:
And the first part what a knob to use on the worm drive that engage/disengage the spindle:
The software on the Arduino, allow for 5 modes:
Jog: Will jog whatever number of steps you set
Run: Will continuously run either direction will speed adjustment
Angle: It will rotate the angle you set on the controller
Step: You set the number of divisions you want
Ratio: You can set up to 3 different ratios if you need to use the stepper on another indexing head or whatever that use a different ratio.
It is indeed very accurate and works really good. I'm quite pleasing with it. So far the only issue is some play on the worm drive. I need to figure out something to reduce this play.
The idea here is to use a worm drive box that I had for years and mount a 3 jaw chuck on one side and mount a stepper motor on the other side. The stepper motor will be controlled by an Arduino with a LCD shield that will allow me to get really accurate divisions, specially with the odd 12,5:1 ratio on the worm drive. This just makes everything simpler as I couldn't have accurately made the indexing hole plates I would go for the conventional way.
The indexing head can work on either vertical or horizontal position and I built a brake that will clamp the spindle in place. The chuck I had here is huge for this project. It's a 8" R?m chuck. A 5" or maybe a 6" chuck would be ideally. But I didn't want to spend the money on that. This entire project cost me 40$ and that was all the electronics.
Here are most of the parts:
Machining the base of the worm drive housing flat on the lathe:
First mock up and test with just a drill:
And the electronics and final stage:
And the first part what a knob to use on the worm drive that engage/disengage the spindle:
The software on the Arduino, allow for 5 modes:
Jog: Will jog whatever number of steps you set
Run: Will continuously run either direction will speed adjustment
Angle: It will rotate the angle you set on the controller
Step: You set the number of divisions you want
Ratio: You can set up to 3 different ratios if you need to use the stepper on another indexing head or whatever that use a different ratio.
It is indeed very accurate and works really good. I'm quite pleasing with it. So far the only issue is some play on the worm drive. I need to figure out something to reduce this play.
LouNY
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Beautiful work,
As far as the play could you eliminate the effect always finishing the indexing in one direction.
Possibly going past and reversing to the final position?
As far as the play could you eliminate the effect always finishing the indexing in one direction.
Possibly going past and reversing to the final position?
ptsg
Super Member
Thanks Lou.
I was looking for something that would actually remove most of the play. It can go past and reverse, all that stuff or I can just move it by hand and lock the brake but the momentum of that massive chuck still moves things around a bit.
I guess it's more like a matter of getting used to it.
kevinwak
Platinum Member
The picture doesn’t show it, but the blue is actually a stain and then there is a clear coat of satin varnish on top. It’s really cool because it shows the grain of the birch through it very well and the kids love having the colorful furniture.
dragoneggs
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Reviving this thread... been out in the shop a fair amount playing with my new lathe. I got tired of digging through a metal drawer chest to find miscellaneous parts and tools for my chucks so I tabbed a couple of wood tool holders that can be moved around and mounted using embedded magnets. I like the flexibility of attaching to my lathe or cabinet.
Big Barn
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Nice Mark! Can we see what magnets you used? And the new lathe! Please....
Threepoint
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+1. Mark, I didn't know you were a woodturner!
Big Barn
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A few years back I purchased an assortment of Klingspoor sanding belts off eBay for my Dynabrade air belt sander.
The OEM belt splices...
have been starting to fail on me so I reinforced them with a bigger patch using Gorilla tape.
A brief trial was successful but I really don’t know for certain how it will hold up.
I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and what they did to remedy.
The OEM belt splices...
have been starting to fail on me so I reinforced them with a bigger patch using Gorilla tape.
A brief trial was successful but I really don’t know for certain how it will hold up.
I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and what they did to remedy.
Last edited:
dragoneggs
Super Star Member
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I am a long time weekend woodworker but only recently got into woodturning. Never thought I would like it. I am kind of a straight edge and precision guy and turning always seemed too... artsy I guess. This summer my son signed us both up for a woodturning class in Bend Oregon while we were visiting. I found it relaxing and liberating. My wife, with my wallet, bought me a lathe for Xmas after much research on lathes.
