Indexing for Myford lathes

[Bony]

My smallest lathe is a Myford Super 7, purchased new over 40 years ago. It's extremely well made, very versatile and still in perfect working condition. I now use it only occasionally for small jobs and to utilise (no z in Au) the very handy T slots machined across the saddle to hold various accessories, eg. for turning spherical shapes.

Attachment 25152



A closer view.


With chuck removed showing the locking (screw in) pin, made from an old plumbing tap, with the shaft turned down to fit snugly into the slots on the plate attached to the back of the chuck. This fitting screws into an existing otherwise unused tapped hole, very handy as no modification to the lathe is needed.


Chuck removed showing indented plate on the back.


Rear view on the chuck with plate attached. there are 3 bolts holes on the chuck which I have used for 3 countersink screws, 1/4 inch Whitworth I think they are, to hold the plate in position.


This is the plate with 24 slots machined into it, plus a recess to reduce the width of the protrusion at the rear of the chuck to gain sufficient clearance. I think I used a gear cutter to mill the slots, it was some time ago now. Any form of slot would do so long as the shape of the pin to mate with it screws in place with no movement whatsoever.


The other parts.

This form of indexing is extremely rigid and is suitable for any milling operation on the lathe. The indents are number stamped, a bit pointless really. The best idea is to colour code them (yes we add a "u" in Au, as the Brits do) using nail varnish (as shown on my other indexing post about a week or so ago). Dab a drop of say yellow nail polish on every 4th slot to use for 6 divisions, red for every 6th indent for 4 divisions, blue for each 8th slot for 3 divisions etc. 24 slots will provide a handy combination of 2, 3, 4, 6, 12 and 24 divisions. if you want 5 and 10 or any other combination simply make another plate.

A very handy indexing method which requires no mods to your lathe and is rock solid in use.

Hope you find this as useful as I do.

Bony