That method you use to indicate the part by moving the work around is one way to wear out a precision table surface or abrade it with wear grooves and scratches......it's cheaper in the long run to replace a height gauge or scribing block than to resurface a worn table.
The hole in the lock screw is actually an oiling hole so you dont have to remove the spindle to lubricate. but...as you found, its also useful for holding the lock pin. I have a very nice quality spin indexer that i bought used (very lightly used) and I love it. I also love the 5C square and hex blocks as well. So handy for milling flats and hex heads.
Excellent work and video!!! When you clamp a straight rod in a collet it may be just a bit different....but you are not going to be holding microns when you are drilling, milling, etc with this tool. Again great work!!!
surface plate abuser haha thanks for the vid! I got some nice tips for truing up my spindexer. I got it square and flat but forgot about aligning to the bore.
Yep my dad tried to make a project with a new Chinese dill press. Drilled all the holes and nothing would line up. It was the dill table sloped to the left and down.
By the looks of it, you should be able to insert the spindle fully from both sides. Play between the spindle and bore will be unavoidable, unless you plan to try your hand at turning, hardening, and grinding a new spindle and regrinding the bore. New video series perhaps? :)
Hi Brad. I noticed how you are making your measurements and cleaning the Granite block, you are not cleaning it well enough you should clean the whole surface with lint free cloth and Acetone then run your hand over the surface don't use a cloth they leave lots of lint behind. Also, on all of the other surfaces that you are going to make contact with do the same, always finish up with your hand. Never do any grinding of metal on the Granite slab this leaves behind derby. When making optics and measuring as your are you get a better contact between surfaces this way, metal measuring is more forgiving.
Mike Mattei Mike - I did clean the entire block before I started in the earlier video then again off camera. I always use the hand to finish off, I think I even mention that too. What I am going to do is get some proper granite-cleaner. The 409 I used, is said to swell the plate.
It isn't really important to use some specific type of gauge to mount the dial indicator because it has fine adjustment because you don't need a "zero" reading. It can be any reading. Take a reading on one side and a reading on the opposite side and see the difference between the two readings. Also, is your indexer's spindle parallel and how much clearance does it have between the spindle and the spindle bore? Happy indexing brother.
It was never shown in the video( at least, not that I saw) but it looks like you assumed the spindle was perfectly round; something I don't think you should have assumed in this case in my opinion.
Was it just the camera sound or are the spindle bearing making noise, also how is the runout between id and od of the spindle. I like the fact that your taking a import indexer and increasing the quality to be usable , good video.
pmproducts The spindle bearings on the grinder? Yeah, they're pretty ok as I'm seeing the more grinding I do. The spindle of the spindexer checked out aok.
Hey Brad, why get precision surfaces on the base or the face of the spindexer? isn't it more important to dial in the part once in the fixture and then make necessary adjustments?
Is your surface grinder running while you put the indexer on the magnet? If so, not very clever. You should also not have tools on the granite block, brother. It seems you have great equipment in your shop, just use it properly and safely.
Nice work on the body so far. I suspect you need to map out the spindle itself for roundness and consistent diameter. How about spindle to body clearance? Colin ;-)
***** This is what I was thinking too, need to check the roundness of the spindle as it rides in the housing. Could end up chasing your tail but I suspect the spindle isn't 100% round.
***** I agree with both of you. It might also compounded by heat effects which come into play when chasing 10ths. Just holding one side or end of the spindle or casting in your hand will make it distort to some degree. Be careful how you handle the parts and allow some time for the temperatures of everything to stabilize before testing. Overall, you seem to be doing good work there, Brad.
***** Those Chinese bores and grinds on the spindle are the ultimate limitation on that project, the next step would be to re-machine a spindle and bore, by now with +/- a few tenths, this indexer is getting closer to 5 X it's original value... ;-)
***** Collin - The spindle shows no movement on the indicator when I mounted it on V-blocks. I checked in a few spots, but not in a linear fashion. Spindle clearance in the casting measured around .0005
***** The spindle floats in the body, what I' concerned about, is the ID that the collet seats against. I also measured a gauge pin in the collet and it had around .002 TIR as would be expected from a used collet.
Why are you indicating the sides of a spin indexer like that that bass sides are not bearing surfaces. They don't matter at all you can take a hammer and them all up and it's still going to function the same way.
That method you use to indicate the part by moving the work around is one way to wear out a precision table surface or abrade it with wear grooves and scratches......it's cheaper in the long run to replace a height gauge or scribing block than to resurface a worn table.
The hole in the lock screw is actually an oiling hole so you dont have to remove the spindle to lubricate. but...as you found, its also useful for holding the lock pin. I have a very nice quality spin indexer that i bought used (very lightly used) and I love it. I also love the 5C square and hex blocks as well. So handy for milling flats and hex heads.
Excellent work and video!!! When you clamp a straight rod in a collet it may be just a bit different....but you are not going to be holding microns when you are drilling, milling, etc with this tool. Again great work!!!
jashbaug E X A C T L Y! Well said. The truing and work involved to get it within 10ths is simply to get as close to perfect of a baseline as possible.
Interesting. Looks like you are well on the way to a very precision set up. Thanks for sharing.
cerberus I sure hope so.
I've had one of those cheap indexers for a few years, I'm inspired now to upgrade it so I can use it in the mill vice.
Stay the course Brad. You are zeroing in on a great project. Fred
Fred Miller Thanks Fred. You're right, I'm actually slowing down and REALLY making this precise.
surface plate abuser haha
thanks for the vid! I got some nice tips for truing up my spindexer. I got it square and flat but forgot about aligning to the bore.
You had me interested in this project. Guess I couldn't do a proper job truing one up on the mill.
Randy
R G DEGREGORI I "had" you interested? What happened?
thank you for doing this video,,, i was not smart enough to figure out how to indicate the bore... good job...
carryit around Thanks - it always a challenge setting the work up and measuring it.
i'm looking forward on how you do the face. wait NOT face bottom..again thanks
To mount it to the Machinist's Vise all you needed was to put a narrow parallel under the workpiece.
I like what your doing Brad, carry on....!
***** Thanks Dan!
Good job Brad, you're getting there it just takes some time.
vince saluto Exactly. This is turning out to be a cool little project though.
Yep my dad tried to make a project with a new Chinese dill press. Drilled all the holes and nothing would line up. It was the dill table sloped to the left and down.
By the looks of it, you should be able to insert the spindle fully from both sides. Play between the spindle and bore will be unavoidable, unless you plan to try your hand at turning, hardening, and grinding a new spindle and regrinding the bore. New video series perhaps? :)
Paul Dorman Someone else suggested making a new spindle. Hahah - maybe, just maybe.
Hi Brad.
I noticed how you are making your measurements and cleaning the Granite block, you are not cleaning it well enough you should clean the whole surface with lint free cloth and Acetone then run your hand over the surface don't use a cloth they leave lots of lint behind.
Also, on all of the other surfaces that you are going to make contact with do the same, always finish up with your hand.
Never do any grinding of metal on the Granite slab this leaves behind derby.
When making optics and measuring as your are you get a better contact between surfaces this way, metal measuring is more forgiving.
Mike Mattei Mike - I did clean the entire block before I started in the earlier video then again off camera. I always use the hand to finish off, I think I even mention that too. What I am going to do is get some proper granite-cleaner. The 409 I used, is said to swell the plate.
Great work Brad ! Enjoyed ..
ShawnMrFixit Lee Thanks Shawn.
It isn't really important to use some specific type of gauge to mount the dial indicator because it has fine adjustment because you don't need a "zero" reading. It can be any reading. Take a reading on one side and a reading on the opposite side and see the difference between the two readings. Also, is your indexer's spindle parallel and how much clearance does it have between the spindle and the spindle bore? Happy indexing brother.
It was never shown in the video( at least, not that I saw) but it looks like you assumed the spindle was perfectly round; something I don't think you should have assumed in this case in my opinion.
Nice series, I really enjoyed it. Thanks!
clearance should let the front drop a little, it's heavier by a smidge
Hi when you use your grinder do you cover the mill and your lathe? And what type of mask do you use is there a mask just for grinding
Is there any specific reason why you want the two base sides parallel with the spindle?
looking good brad.
Robert Kutz Thanks Rob.
Was it just the camera sound or are the spindle bearing making noise, also how is the runout between id and od of the spindle. I like the fact that your taking a import indexer and increasing the quality to be usable , good video.
pmproducts The spindle bearings on the grinder? Yeah, they're pretty ok as I'm seeing the more grinding I do. The spindle of the spindexer checked out aok.
Hey Brad, why get precision surfaces on the base or the face of the spindexer? isn't it more important to dial in the part once in the fixture and then make necessary adjustments?
Is your surface grinder running while you put the indexer on the magnet? If so, not very clever. You should also not have tools on the granite block, brother. It seems you have great equipment in your shop, just use it properly and safely.
Nice work on the body so far. I suspect you need to map out the spindle itself for roundness and consistent diameter. How about spindle to body clearance?
Colin ;-)
***** This is what I was thinking too, need to check the roundness of the spindle as it rides in the housing. Could end up chasing your tail but I suspect the spindle isn't 100% round.
***** I agree with both of you. It might also compounded by heat effects which come into play when chasing 10ths. Just holding one side or end of the spindle or casting in your hand will make it distort to some degree. Be careful how you handle the parts and allow some time for the temperatures of everything to stabilize before testing. Overall, you seem to be doing good work there, Brad.
***** Those Chinese bores and grinds on the spindle are the ultimate limitation on that project, the next step would be to re-machine a spindle and bore, by now with +/- a few tenths, this indexer is getting closer to 5 X it's original value... ;-)
***** Collin - The spindle shows no movement on the indicator when I mounted it on V-blocks. I checked in a few spots, but not in a linear fashion. Spindle clearance in the casting measured around .0005
***** The spindle floats in the body, what I' concerned about, is the ID that the collet seats against. I also measured a gauge pin in the collet and it had around .002 TIR as would be expected from a used collet.
Why are you indicating the sides of a spin indexer like that that bass sides are not bearing surfaces. They don't matter at all you can take a hammer and them all up and it's still going to function the same way.
Nice Job.
Dd
***** Thanks Dale. C'mob man, get your grinder going - we want to see it in action.
USUALLY WHEN I DO THE SECOND SIDE OF A DETAIL I SET IT UP ON THE MAGNET OF THE GRINDER TURN ON THE MAGNET IT'S PEEEERRRRFECT.
Who is this Stan you keep talking to?
is some creep from Hollywood, that hides under kids' beds and lurks in the shadows.... Check out his channel on RUclips. Search for "Shadon HKW"
LOL OK I found him already. LOL