Home Made Lathe Index Plate
The project I am currently working on has some decorative elements that require breaking the rounded spindle into evenly measured segments. The lathe I own did not have a built in indexing system, and neither does any of my chucks. It is possible to wrap the spindle in paper and then try folding the paper into evenly space segments, but the results have a lot to be desired. I decided to make my own indexing plate from stuff I have lying around.
Using a faceplate I don’t use, a pencil, some circular graph paper, liquid paper, a hacksaw blade, and a carpenters square.
My face plate is black, so pencil lines will not show up. I have no white paint at the moment, but I do have liquid paper.
Using Circular array graph paper (actual humidity graph paper) I centered the face plate. This paper was broke down into 84 segments. This number allows me to get alot of different numbers divided into it. With a compass, protractor, and ruler you could make your own graph paper. It doesn’t need to be uber acurate, but alot better than eye ball’n it.
Once I had made the marks, I used a carpenters square to straighten out and darken the lines.
The index wheel is now attached to the lathe. I used a hacksaw blade tape to the top of the control panel as the indicator.
The pin hole in the blade makes for a view port for the index markings.
Pencil taped to a square (tape in the wrong direction in photo) at the height of the pivot point to the lathe deck. The short arm rest across the deck.
The Pencil making the first marking. 84/7 markings =12 segments.
Not that bad for a make shift tool.
my good Lady Mary;
just a small note to say hello. love what you do with a lathe, at such time as you are ever up this way i just must have you drop into my studio and tell what i have done wrong with mine. about all i use it for at this time is making carving mallets and it just works for that. i think that i may have the wrong moter for it.
i must say that i admire your projects et all. so i am intrested in what you thought of my photographs and all those viking patterns. are many of them applicable whith what you do? and being aware that you already do a certain amount of carving, would it be out of line to ask just what sort of selection of carving tools you have at hand? i am looking at the possibility/cost of putting together another complete set of chisels and the best price that i have come across at this time is from flexcut tools. about ten buck less expensive a tool than lee valley. and they do work well, i already have a number of them.
looking forward to hearing from you.
ever your servent;
Lord Kasper.
Hey there Lord Kaspar.
Not over your way that much, but I’ll keep it in mind next time Im east bound.
I am not an authority on lathes by any means, but I’d give it a go. I am on my second electric lathe (countless pole lathes). Are you having a problem with it stalling out? My first lathe was a mini pen lathe. I am pretty sure they never made it for turning 8″dia 12″ deep bowls. Stalled out constantly. Just getting use to using the tools is the hard skill to learn on a lathe. If the centers are even, and the wood is turning….its mostly tool usage after that.
I only gave the Norse patterns a slight scan. I don’t do anything Norse at this time, so I was only kinda curious. I did check out your carving pictures and was impressed.
As for my carving tools, I cant help you out much. My set is an eclectic mishmash of tools, bought, inherited, found, recycled, or home made. I have a couple of Henry Taylors, Swiss, mastercraft, forseter chisels (mostly smaller slight curved and a few V chisels). I make due with what I have, or make up something. I use standard mortice chisels alot when I cavre to. I know how to sharpen them really well.
I have no idea about the flexcut tools. Are they the powered chisels? Looked at something like that at lee valley, but I am a cheap bastard.
I would never call myself a carver… I feel I am barely competant Turner.
I prefer Wood Butcher.
Gawd this is a long comment