A simple indexer for the 9x20 lathe

?

They have been many times when I have wanted to index something in the lathe so in an effort to improve the slapdash way I usually do it I came up with the following.

First an expanding mandrel to hold a change gear in the back of the spindle.

The cuts for the expanding segments were done with the angle grinder which is why they are skewed.

The keyway was cut by holding the mandrel end somewhat insecurely in a tool holder but it worked.

This same expanding mandrel also hold the manual handle when I want to go really slow like when threading up to a shoulder.

Next we need a pin to sit in the teeth of the gear so the spindle cannot turn.

I dismantled the sprung lever for the gear box to see how it was made and basically copied that.

Obviously the end of the pin must be cut to fit in between the gear teeth so once again I held something in the tool bit holder and used a cutter to mill away the two sides.

This time though all 4 screws held the part.

Then made the cap that pulls up the pin against the spring, just like the gear lever.

To hold the pin assembly I made a steel bracket from some 10x25mm flat bar.

The right angled section can be adjusted in height according to the size of the gear used.

Then drilled and tapped 2xM8 holes to bolt it down to the head stock once is was aligned to sit vertically over the change gear.

Some times I use a printed degree wheel in place of the change gear but then its difficult to lock the spindle in the required position.

?

?

?

?

?