# lathe indexing head?



## dvalery20 (Jan 27, 2011)

I'm looking to see if anyone can help with this, I am attempting to turn stave cylinders, not bowls on my wood lathe, I am trying to find some sort of an indexing head for by lathe bed, but so like the ones you find for metal lathes, anyone know if those are made for wood lathes? I am trying to achieve a perfect form of chiseling the inside of a drum and have had no luck so far on this!...


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## Manuka Jock (Jun 27, 2011)

I'm not up on indexing heads as such , but the Nova 4 jaw scroll chuck SN2 has a 24 position indexing back plate .


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## BWSmith (Aug 24, 2010)

You lost me just a touch.........so this response may be,uhhhh dumb.

If you're trying to "devide" an object mounted in your lathe....not running of course....One old trick is to go to or order from,a speedshop....a "degree wheel".Its used for various things on car/bike engines.You affix it to the lathes spindle,and with a cut pce of coat hangar...a pointer is made.The wheels can be had in different sizes and different range of $$.

Alternatively you could make a plywood "round",stepping off however many devisions with straightleg deviders.....and again with the wire pointer.If done accurately,these can be drilled at required intervals and subsequently pinned in place during use.IOWs,you can lock lathe spindle rotation if you have holes drilled,whereas with degree wheel another way of locking spindle would have to occur.BW




http://www.summitracing.com/parts/MOR-62190


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## john lucas (Sep 18, 2007)

Yes You can buy Index wheels that will fit many wood lathes. I have 2. One from www.ironfirellc.com and the other from a guy in Atlanta and I think his name is Mike Butler. I'll have to look and see if I have a card for him. I like his best but he's hard to get hold of. Most people are very happy with the ironfire ones, and I use mine a lot. 
The wheels go inbetween the chuck and headstock. Screwing the chuck down locks the wheel in place. 
You do have to build some sort of adaptor to hold the pin in position on the lathe. the simplest I've seen is to simply build an L shaped piece. The bottom of the L sits on your ways and has another plate to keep the L aligned with the bed. Glue in Rare earth magnets to hold it in place. Then simple drill a hole up near the top the same size as the pin for the index wheel. this locks the wheel in position. 
I'm at my work computer so I don't have access to all the photos of how it works. Here is a photo of one of the pieces I've done with the index wheel and router that sits on a flat platform that locks in my banjo.
Here is a photo of a lidded box that I did using the index wheel and also the cupcakes were done this way.


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## H. A. S. (Sep 23, 2010)

dvalery20 said:


> I'm looking to see if anyone can help with this, I am attempting to turn stave cylinders, not bowls on my wood lathe, I am trying to find some sort of an indexing head for by lathe bed, but so like the ones you find for metal lathes, anyone know if those are made for wood lathes? I am trying to achieve a perfect form of chiseling the inside of a drum and have had no luck so far on this!...



Somewhere on the Googly, a guy shows how to make an indexing head to fit any size lathe, just using plywood and paper drawings...Cheap.


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## john lucas (Sep 18, 2007)

I've used plexiglass to make one. I may have photos somewhere, I don't have instructions on how to make it. They are not hard to make as long as you take the time to be accurate.


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## wildwood (Jan 25, 2011)

Here is some food for thought, guess can adjust to fit your needs.

Might want to download and print index wheel templates. 
http://www.smithart.us/download.htm

Checkout this design
http://www.angelfire.com/va3/tommiesplace.com/index5.html


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## dvalery20 (Jan 27, 2011)

Thanks for the responses everyone, I think I might have messed up what I was talking about, I'm looking more for the tool cutting the drum in this video http://youtu.be/j_h7b7ESi9A I know that the lathe being use is a metal lathe, but I didn't know if any companies make the tool for wood lathes... anyways, let me know if you know of anything or if maybe I should stop looking for this because of some sort of torque a wood lathe doesn't have that a metal lathe would.


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## Manuka Jock (Jun 27, 2011)

Thats not a woodturner's tool , not real woodturners anyway , we are made of sterner stuff , we poke sharp things into the spinning wood by hand :laughing:

The process looks to be a factory one . You know the sort of place , logs go in one end , round stuff gets shot out the other , no craft skill involved.


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## john lucas (Sep 18, 2007)

That's a metal lathe. However if you want a tool that cuts that easily and is hand held buy the new Hunter Hercules tool. It is carbide so it never needs sharpening. It's round so if it gets dull just rotate it a little. If you manage to dull the whole thing just replace it. I've used the same cutter in a smaller bar for a year or more.
http://www.hunterwoodturningtool.com/products/herc3/
I have been playing with it since Mike first sent one to try out. I haven't had time to do a video of it in action. It is a very versatile tool. You can cut with it straight in with the tool flat. You can tilt it so the bottom edge of the cutter shear scrapes, or you can rub the bevel on the nose and use it to get incredibly clean cuts just like push cutting a bowl gouge.


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## john lucas (Sep 18, 2007)

Another way of doing something similar is to use one of the captured bar methods for holding a tool. Lyle Jamieson has one https://www.lylejamieson.com/tools/index.asp I have a homemade copy of this. Monster tool makes a great one, maybe the best on the market. http://monster-lathe-tools.com/


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## wildwood (Jan 25, 2011)

You can make a small drum over the ways or large drum on a normal wood lathe that has provisions for outboard or sliding head headstock. If use stave, construction shown in other videos can use normal turning tools. If want to turn a solid block would need a boring bar. Also, need a floor standing tool rest for outboard or end of ways turning. 

Could get fancy and rig up stand for compound sliding table, tool holder and steel boring bar. Might take time and money to assemble components. 

Several dedicated bowl lathes like Vega and others could do the job too. 

You would have to hunt for a suitable metal lathe or buy one and modify it to meet your needs. 

Might want to look into lamination and steam bending as an alternative.


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