What do you think about this lathe for indexer ???

[bruce_taylor]

I've been looking for a lathe to make into an indexer and I've found a delta 46-111 in pristine condition. Threaded shaft sticking out the back of the headstock with plenty room to add faceplate to mount a geared shaft on, solid cast iron base very well made. This is a vintage lathe but operates like new. What are your thoughts??? 11" x 37"

[steve_g]

Bruce:

I feel certain that's the same lathe I have with the "Rockwell" name on it. A very serviceable heavy duty piece of equipment, however getting quite old and some parts are no longer available for it. Will you have enough Z to be able to use it?

Steve

[bruce_taylor]

Steve, I think I have plenty of "Z". Looking at the stand it comes on may even fit in the pace at the end of my bot that I have picked out to place if not I will make a custom base and mount it accordingly. It is the same as some of the earlier ones were under the rockwell name. I did a little checking and many parts are still available, bearings were my main interest. I even saw a complete tail stock assembly on ebay. I'm pretty excited about it even chucked up a piece of wood and did some old fashioned turning just to get the feel, It seems to run smooth as silk and as quiet of my spindle. I have less than a hundred dollars in it so if it becomes an issue I'll just keep it as a regular lathe to play with. But I'm thinking it has real potential !!

[steve_g]

Don't worry about bearings, any bearing supply house will find a replacement that will work. My indexer is removeably located on my spoil board, the only reason I get away with that is because of my 12" of Z. I built my own head stock, but am using the tail stock from the lathe.

Steve

[myxpykalix]

Bruce,
I'm not familiar with this particular lathe and you mentioned something about bearings. I don't think you need to be too concerned about a problem with the bearings because this will not get anywhere near the use as an indexer as it would as a simple lathe.

The revolution speed on an indexer relative to a lathe is quite low so bearing use should not be a concern. As far as it being old, frankly i think that is a plus. Things years ago were made with heavy materials to last.

Again not knowing the size and weight of this lathe i would think you may need to take into consideration the resolution of the stepper motor vs the weight of the lathe shaft and chuck combined with the material to make sure you are not putting undue strain on a stepper motor.

Other then that i think you have a start on a good indexer. If you need further help I have several pictures of how i set mine up and the "dialing in" i did to get it both plumb and straight. My email is in profile.

[bruce_taylor]

On my 5x10 I have a 4x8 spoilboard so on the end I have about a foot or so open I plan on putting the indexer in that gap, The space has come in handy for hanging things off the spoilboard that needed bullnosed or other odd machining done and I almost never have need it any bigger. On it original stand it looks to be about the perfect height. I will work on it more when I have a chance. I've got some more boring things to do at the moment to pay the bills.