indexing

[ahoiberg]

can anyone fill me in on what the indexing feature is used for on a lathe?

my jet 1014I has the index feature on it, but i have no clue what i'd use it for...

it just seems like it locks the headstock in a certain place. that's all i've managed to figure out...

 

[Jake Debski]

can anyone fill me in on what the indexing feature is used for on a lathe?

my jet 1014 has the index feature on it, but i have no clue what i'd use it for...

it just seems like it locks the headstock in a certain place. that's all i've managed to figure out...

It allows evenly spaced (or not) drilling, carving, grinding............ you get the idea Only restriction is your sense of adventure.

 

[Ken Grunke]

Andrew,
Some prime examples of indexed turnings are in John Lucas's photo album:
http://www.woodturner.org/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=56
John cuts grooves with a router with the piece mounted in the lathe--the grooves being either features in themselves, or for gluing in contrasting pieces of wood.

 

[john lucas]

Thanks Ken. I was going to suggest the same thing. I use indexing to put dots on clock faces for the numbers. I first started using it to route flutes in spindles for beds and clock decorations.
I'm just starting to do indexing again and will have a lot of inovative uses for it in the very near future. I just have to get time to work in the shop.

 

[hockenbery]

In addition to work like john's

very useful in something like a stool or pedestal table.

You can mark 3 or 4 evenly spaced holes in the top to accept the legs.
you can mark the pedestal for the feet tenons etc.

happy turning,
Al

 

[ahoiberg]

so, would you just use it by locking it in position, drill a hole, unlock it, spin to the next spot, lock it, drill again, etc? Or will it allow you to spin to specific locations without resetting the pin?

 

[Vernon Oberle]

Drawing

you can also use it to draw a grid on your piece so you make evenly spaced carvings. Trying to do that without indexing you could wind up with the first and last lines being too close together or too far apart.

 

[john lucas]

Andrew you have the lathe off. You rotate the piece to the location you want and then you place a pin in the index wheel. The you do whatever you have planned, route or drill, carve, draw or paint. Then you pull out the pin move the work to the next location and do the same thing.

 

[Ed Davidson]

This photo tutorial will explain the process: Inlay pen turorial

 

[Richard Baker]

Last and probably least, when power sanding a piece you can use it to lock the spindle in place while giving a bad spot (typically a bit of end grain tear out) some extra sanding attention.

 

[Frank Kobilsek]

And unplugged

John said lathe off but its a good habit to unplug it too when using the indexing for carving, drilling, marking etc. Forgetting the head is locked and turning on the lathe is real hard on belts, invertors etc.
Frank

 

[cypher]

To add on to this question . . . How does one use the indexing plate on the back of a chuck, like on a Vicmarc, in conjuction with the index holes in the lathe. My JET 1642EVS does not have the nice little numbers on the headstock like the one in the pen toutorial by YoYo spin. Does one need some kind of pin that mointed to the headstock to align with the holes in the chuck index plate?

 

[john lucas]

To use the index holes on the back of the Vicmarc you have to build a device to hold an index pin. Probably the easiest way would be to build something that sits on the lathe bed and has an arm that sticks up high enough to engage the Vicmarc chuck holes. I have the vicmarc chucks but found the IronfireLLC index wheel easier to use. www.ironfireLLC.com