Can anyone tell me what manufactures produce wood lathes with indexing heads? Is this a common feature?

Penn State has a universal one.

Herb

It is, I have a powermatic, which has a 24 position index. I just purchased a Delta midi and it also has a 24 position index feature. I know some of the oneway lathes have even more options. Many of the woodturning chucks also come with index holes and there are aftermarket index wheels a person can buy.

 

Steve

Thanks guys, I am looking through the specs of this lathe and trying to determine if it has an indexing head, can one know just by looking at the lathe?

I think I just answered my own question, at this manual page 15 of 22, shows a photo of the indexing head lever.

 

MLA0230-175_ 1643 05 06 2014 lathe.pdf

My Delta iron bed has one

My Delta 46-460 and my Delta 46-111 both have indexing heads.

I have a jet with one.

Most good lathes have indexing. My Delta Midi, Jet 1442 and PM3520B all have it But I have found it to be hard to use so I bought an after market index wheel by Fire and Ice. It is plastic so not expensice and easy to use.

 

Gerald,

I had  no idea what an indexing head is. Had to go to Youtube and see.  Looks very precise and time consuming.  I have made some pieces that were segmented with precise cuts,  glued and turned. Can you post something you have made that used this process?  

 

Thanks

6 hours ago, Ron Altier said:

Gerald,

I had  no idea what an indexing head is. Had to go to Youtube and see.  Looks very precise and time consuming.  I have made some pieces that were segmented with precise cuts,  glued and turned. Can you post something you have made that used this process?  

 

Thanks

 

 

Ron, it may seem time consuming but it's a pretty efficient way to lay out or effect some sort of embellishment on a turned piece.  Many turners use some sort of router jig in combination with the index feature to rout V grooves or other cuts in the rim of a bowl. I use the index feature extensively when I'm laying out a piece for drawing a pattern. At about the 13 minute spot in this video you can see a good example of what I'm talking about. 

 

 

 

Steve

Thanks Steve. I have seen  segmented pieces before, but did not know how they were made. Never heard of a segmented chuck either. Duh. Never too old to learn. 

22 hours ago, Ron Altier said:

Gerald,

I had  no idea what an indexing head is. Had to go to Youtube and see.  Looks very precise and time consuming.  I have made some pieces that were segmented with precise cuts,  glued and turned. Can you post something you have made that used this process?  

 

Thanks

I do not have a picture of the setup, but used the index wheel to drill these holes while on the lathe.

The index wheel also allows you to use a platform on the lathe and do fluting or groves in projects on the lathe.

 

This site has the plastic index wheels I use . There is also a metal index wheel at a site called Alisam Engineering. This is a very useful tool.

This piece was done by a fellow club member . He also did this on the sides of vases and the flute sizes and angles can be changed too.

Thanks, now I have the concept.  The chuck marks a spot precisely so you can perform a maneuver at the exact degree.  That is basically how we aimed artillery. Except our circle had 3600 mills, instead of 360 degrees.