Spindexer - Small Tweaks
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- Опубликовано: 11 окт 2015
- Nothing very out of the ordinary compared to some mods we have seen. Milled both sides of base, both to parallel them and, reduce total width so as to be able to (just) fit it in the drill press vise if so required. Also, drilled base 7/16" to suit mill table T-slot centers and, enlarged holes into approx 2D slots. Some rather ''cheat'' set-ups and fixing methods were needed, as mill, vise etc not really ideal for the job - sort of thing a Bridgeport with 6" Kurt would make super easy!
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Nice mods. Can't wait to get a milling machine! I picked up some goodies at an estate sale late last year, and one of the bits was the spindexer you worked on in this video.
+Aaron Garney
Hi Aaron - useful find - it sure helps for those times when dividing head not really needed. I love esstate sales but my pocket doesn't - plus haven't been to one in years... maybe just as well! :)
Thank you got the share just dropped in after watching the series from Brad Jacobs channel. We machine really small so these limits you talk of are not as limiting, once if like us we stay within our machine / parts sizes, just funnin always wanting to cut something larger here ourselves, thank you for showing the base narrowing and slot cutting in your base that was helpful. Lance & Patrick.
Hi, thanks for watching. It was just another of those small projects. :)
Enjoyable video chris, Have the same mill, and vise, and spin indexer.I just screwed a piece of keystock to the bottom of mine that drops into the table slots to center it.
Thanks Ray - your idea sounds very simple and effective! :)
Nice job on the fix up, and you came up with clamping solutions.
+Randy Richard Thx Randy - could have been better but we got there!
Nice video, Chris.
I'm familiar with the limits on standing.
I feel your pain, literally.
Nice work on the spindexer.
Thanks
John
+John Bazaar Hey John, thanks. At least at my lil' ol' mill I can sit quite a bit. Next job will be some standing - so as I say - nibble, nibble. :)
Good presentation on the SpinDex. For me this comes at a very good time. Thank you for sharing.
+Glenn Felpel Thanks Glenn.
Very nice job Chris. Came out right.
+sdjb111 Thx - yeah, in the end!
I look forward to seeing it in use someday!
+Jim Koonce Thx Jim - will probably document any usage.
Chris, you can place the jaw plates on the outside of your mill vise. That way you won't have to use the drill press vise.
+MrPragmaticLee Thanks. Nice idea but, I don't think on that little vise it would work and give enough contact area. In fact, the Groz Vice is quite adequate I think for the odd occasions - and as I showed, just adding it to side of main vise will still allow access to the work without much X travel change.
That buying a replacement trick works every time . I usually spend half the day looking for something first though just to make sure.
The critical thing though is that a replacement doesn't cost an arm and a leg! :)
Nice segment Chris. All you folks are pushing me to invest in a spin indexer. I may cave during the next Enco sale.. Thanks for sharing... f
+Fred Miller Thx Fred. - At the price, handy just to have it available. Pretty good value IMO.
Nice work. I recently made similar modifications my spin indexer to fit align more easily in my mill vise. I had not considered using in on a drill press, but it could be useful.
+robert simpson
Hi Robert -- for what it is and price etc -- it's a very handy device to have on hand. Sure saves all the setting up of a dividing head if it will do the job. :)
What ho Chris, I clearly did not express myself properly when I wrote about slots, mea culpa but you must remember English is not my mother tongue, that position being reserved for Gibberish.
When I mentioned slots, I actually meant open ended sideways ones. The reason being you don't have to remove the nuts and washers or fiddle around looking to fit it over wobbly studs, everytime you fit the thing to the table. You wouldn't need to fit it to a vice if my thought waves had reached you in time.:>)
Another thought being, most people make the, understandable (as machinists seem to like symmetry) error of fitting their vice in the centre of the bed. Error for two reasons, one you only wear bed ways and leadscrew in one spot, and two, if offset, you can fit something else, like a spindexer, alongside. Personally I do this and, to even up wear, everytime I remove the vice for some reason I put it back on the other side, so that over time it averages out the wear.
LL&P
c
+Chris Stephens
Very good point Chris with vise position - totally logical. I have to remove vise for a small job today and will almost for sure give it a change of position.
I get your point too re the slot idea. :)
I am in your division. The main thing is to improve the tools and make them ready for use. Thumb up for us
Thanks Jan. :)
Hello, I am from Brazil, I would like to build a similar, the scale of 10 fixed holes do you know how many degrees has each spacing?
Hi Marcio - can't say spacing exactly - but, the 0 to 9 set of fixed holes for the register pin represent a 1 degree adjustment to the main disk, which itself is 360 degrees. For example - if pin in 0 hole and through into disk #10 hole, and lined up with engraved arrow - then position is exactly 10 degrees. If pin then put into #5 hole and disk rotated until pin engages again, then that would represent 15 degrees.
Hope that helps - difficult to explain but maybe you get the idea.
Nice vid :) can the back jaw on the vice be moved to the end to make the opening wider.
+Tom D Thx Tom - not much I can change on that lil' vise and I don't think your useful suggestion would permit quite enough extra opening.. The 4" I really want is big money - so, have to manage for now.
Hi Chris. Just getting back in to this stuff after a long break. I haven't read all the comments yet so I might be wrong? Watching your video with the aluminium filler rod in the vice in between the machined 5C base and the moving jaw on the vice.. Shouldn't it be the other way around with your finished 5C base against the fixed vertical jaw of the vice with the filler rod in between the adjustable jaw and the uneven casting?
To be honest Tony I don't quite remember why!! I guess at the time I had some reason but it's a long while ago now. I agree with the logic of your observation.
Hi Chris !
The more I see this SpinDexer the more I tend to put in on my "TO DO" list - it is a bit more nifty than setting up the dividing head - is this your experience too ?
+Keld Sørensen Keld -- well for $53 it seems great value, even if precision is not absolutely tight. I reckon this will come into use when collet blocks can't do the job but dividing head not needed. If the work can divide within 360 then it'll be handy IMO - even if just occasional...such a modest investment and lots of folks like them apparently.
ChrisB257
Thx for your time and explanation ... buying is a non-existent option for me ;-)) that's why it may bee added to my TO-DO list
Nice mod! The next time you have to mill a slot, drill the hole like you did, then use your end mill like a drill and drill through move over .100 or so and drill down again and again. Much less stress on the spindle. It werks fer me. Give it a try. Thanks for the video, CJ
+CJs Custom Thank you -- appreciate the tip - makes sense when I think on it! That's what is so great about YT folks - always something to learn. :)
we mount things just as we can. not always optimal but if it works, mission accomplished haha. I'm in the same boat, my drill press vise opens 4" but is not tall enough to get a good bite so I'm thinking if I can set it on a pair of big V blocks and use long bolts in t nuts to hold it
Hi - well, as so often it's a case of ''whatever works'' :)
Hi Chris, have you thought of an English style shooting stick to save the old legs? ( Suitably modified of course) I envisage a spring loaded stick for a bit of leeway, with a flat base on a ball swivel. Maybe I should patent it for us old codgers! Rob, Engineer, still learning!
+robert stirling
Hi Robert -- I used to have a nice shooting stick many years ago but, sold it. Anyways, unfortunately that sort of thing doesn't remove the problems of weight bearing much at all. I just have to not be in any position too long or I get a backlash.
It ain't going to stop me yet completely!
Have you considered creating a block that will fit your smaller vise and bolt to it through the slotted holes in spindexer base?
Hi Chip - that thought had crossed my mind but, even if using in a smaller vise the loss of available height clearance for my rather small mill could be a factor. May yet try it sometime.
Thank you.
I plan to make the same improvements on my indexer , thanks
+Jeffrey Lehn
Thx Jeffrey - it has made mine a bit more versatile. For what they cost I think they are well worth having.
How about converting one of the computer chairs which have castors and a pneumatic
ram below, to take a padded stool top. ( Often seen in ships here) I might make myself one come to think of it! Probably with bigger tyred castors for a smoother ride.
+robert stirling
Hi Robert -- an appealing idea. I have a chair of that type (2 in fact) but they are in use for my computers. Could be a plan for the future though. Thanks for dropping by.
Bravo Chris !!!
+Marco Polo Thanks Marco.
I just drilled holes in mine. I did a quick video a few years back. Putting it in your vice might limit the size of things you can mill. Great work!
+Bob Cartwright Hi Bob -- Yes, holes probably would have been adequate .. just seemed a useful addition to slot - probably not essential at all! I don't think using in the vice too problematic, as size would be very much limited to max collet size available. Don't often do really big jobs.
+ChrisB257 Pierre Beaudry beat me to it, an angle plate would have been a more stable way to hold the Spindexer.
That was a lot of work. Good results though. Thanks for sharing.
+cerberus Thx Harold - bit of tricky fun!
suggestions and questions:
1) why so tied to the idea of holding the indexer in a vise? was it to avoid having to tram it? why not mill a key sllot to fit the table slot accurately?
2) re the 6" vise, why not mount it with the lead screw parallel to the table slot v at 90 degrees. no hang out issues then.
3) when you spoke of making slots i envisioned them being at rt angle to the sides rather than parallel, a la the slots for vise mounting.
i seem to have forgotten some other things i meant to ask... one just came back; re the missing bench block, it was a tool knome playing a trick on you... they do it to me all the time!1!
+crazymanmichael Hi Michael,
Guess I am not sufficiently confident in the absolute accuracy of keyslots, re repeatability. Prefer to see an indicator every time!.
Thought about the different fitting of the big vise - just hadn't tried it - but probably will... if mounting holes can suit my T-slot arrangement.
Just made those base slots to permit a bit more adjustment potential.
Haha - yes, the bench block! The 'tool gremlin' - the one that makes things invisible, at least until well after the item is really needed! :)
Hi Chris, as a suggestion, if you want more stability, you're gona have to resolve yourself to dismount your vise, and, use some 1-2-3 blocks and, or, angle plates... I was watching and trying to send waves about how you could do with the blocks... :))
Came out nicely even without my help... ;)
+pierre beaudry Thx Pierre.
Haha - thought I felt some strange vibes!
The vise thing is laziness in part - as I have it very accurately set up and don't want to have to do it again! Plus too - I want a better 4" anyways but what I want is rather pricey! Always other ways come up, after the event! :)
Setting up a vise can be pretty easy, as you might have seen on one of my videos, it's done in max 3 passes, and, you don't even need an expansive parallel, any straight piece of steel will do... Just take a look, and let me know what you think about it... ;)
+pierre beaudry Can't say setting mine up is actually difficult at all - just that it requires fitting up the indicator in the spindle usually... the laziness factor! Forget whether I saw your video but if you have a link, do send it along, thx Pierre.
Now that you have it so you can use it on the mill, you can use the vise to hold a tail stock for longer pieces.
That could be an idea Ron. :)
Found the video very interesting, atb John
+John Wellings Thanks John.
I would have figured that you would have placed the finished side to the fixed jaw, with the wire on the painted side, at the movable jaw. Even better would have been to mount it upside down with the face on an angle plate. This would have let you cut both sides without moving the spindexer.
If I had been doing it,I would have clamped a 1 inch bar in the spinjig, then clamped the jig to the table, cut a 1/4 inch flat on each side of the bar. Then turn it over and clamp the flats in the mill vise on the flats and machined both sides at the same time and also take a clean up cut on the bottom to make sure that it is flat and true.
This all turned out well! But why do you need slots when you are fixing down to Tee slots ? It would have been much easier for you to use the machined base as a datum, then mill two registers on top of the body so that you could fix down knowing everything would be in parallel , you could also have clamped between two 90 Deg angle plates onto the ends of the cylindrical boss to machine the base sides, after sawing the excess waste off on your new bandsaw! Well done on a result on this awkward holding job. Chris B.
+Englishman French As ever Chris - several ways to skin a cat! I only chose slots just to give a bit more latitude though probably not really necessary. Angle plates certainly could have been another option, although what I have available is not very ideal - too large in fact. Bandsaw could have helped if I'd bothered to try.
I'm planning on using my shaper to clean up the bottom.
+Sharky's
Hi - makes me envious. I had to sell my old (huge) shaper - miss the heck out of it!
I've got a South Bend 7" shaper. It's a well built machine.
You've got a t-.slotted table. You can fit your spindexer anyway you want? I don't really understand why you are putting it in the vise?
Hi - quick answer - laziness! Set-up time for a small job would required finding space on mill table and tramming it in - a quick fix is putting it in the vice. :)
@@ChrisB257 Alright! Fair enough! I'm a machinist by day so I'm used getting things in the shop almost everyday that don't fit any vise at all so I'm probably used to fooling around in that sense! :)
I woulda just bought a half dozen new hacksaw blades and a new file.
A single cutting disc could easily make short work of my hacksaw though.
👍🏻
Ah if your crazy means I must be too BFR love mine genuine thumper! As far as guns if it's gose bang I enjoy it. As to age I agree . mind still active but knees need a grease job! enjoy your videos!
Thx for stopping by Danne.
Hah - not just my knees that need the grease! :)
Why not use an angle plate instead of drill press vise
Indeed, that is another option :)
I'm retired but I used to be a very lazy machinist
assuming you have a 1 inch collet
+Richard Haisley
Hi Richard. Hah - yes, there is the limitation. 7/8 is I think my biggest collet. Like the idea though. In fact when checked, the bottom was very adequately machined so really didn't need a skim.
nice job, at $50 a spindexer is a good value.
+Brian Stanga Hi Brian,
Yes, it does seem very good value - surprising in fact! :)
You should have bolted it against an angle plate.
Did you realise that you can take the jaws off the inside and fix them to the outside ??? Your vice has a huge range > Best wishes Malcolm
Hi Malcolm,
Thank you. For some reason back then I had overlooked the jaws swap - but now do realize. :)
It's amazing how many machinist's don't realise the jaws can be mounted on the front and back of the vise. That has come in handy a few times. Possibly that is where they mount a vise stop,is in the holes for the jaw on the front.
do it old school hammer and chisel. then dress it on the mill
Dear Sir, in my opinion again My opinion your set up is incorrect. The base of the indexer should have been against the fixed jaw of the vise to maintain perpendicularity. I would have set the 1x2x3 blocks on edge in the vise and used them to hold the spandex thru the bore. Use your machinist square to set the base perpendicular to the mill table. Easy set up easy change. Hope this helps in future endevores RJ
Thanks Randell - useful points :)
good job. i had faith that you could do it lol. hey, check your email
wish I could get one of these for 50 bucks
$65 from The Little Machine Shop in 2021! Or you can you can get the same thing, only red, from Suburban Tool for $953! No, I’m not joking! Look it up!
It's not the size of you vise Chris,,, it is what you can do with it! ;o) O,
+Opinionator52 Haha -- well said sir. :-)