Jay Wyant's Indexer

[pfulghum]

Looking to ask Jay Wyant some questions about HIS indexer setup that was originally posted at http://www.flickr.com/photos/campshopbot/2838599810/

I really like the design....

How did you get the chuck onto the axle? Machine shop?

Which motor?
What Gearing?


34431.jpg

-- Pat

[ed_lang]

Hello Pat,

I'll try and answer a few of the questions as Jay is very busy in his shop and not sure when he will have time to answer.

Jay decided to use one of the motors left over from his motor upgrade. He wanted some increase in resolution so he went with the setup you see. By using all off the shelf parts. The source was McMaster if I recall right. Pillow block bearings, shaft (which was too long and was cut)toothed pulley on the motor had to be drilled to the size of the stepper which Jay did on the drill press with a new bit the right size. Larger toothed pulley was bought to fit the size of the shaft. Pulley ratio is about 1:3 if I recall right. Toothed belt was purchased with the pulley. Chuck and insert were purchased from WoodCraft, again, off the shelf parts. Spacers are pipe nipples. Some bolts, nuts and washers complete the "headstock end" The ways and tail stock were designed by Jay and cut on the ShopBot. The tailstock has a live center also from WoodCraft. Jay has only used the Indexer Virtual Tool that is already installed with the current control software. Nothing had to be written or coded. ShopBot has provided a very complete set of tools for the Indexer. The cable from the control board to the driver and the cable from the driver to the stepper motor were purchased from ShopBot.

All of this project went from Jay and I talking one day in his shop about how one could be built to having the indexer running in about 4 days. Most of that time was waiting for the UPS truck to deliver the goodies.

I hope this helps to answer at least some of your questions and sparks an interest in making your own.

Ed

[myxpykalix]

Ed,
a question i have is why did you/he set it up with gears and pulleys as opposed to a direct connection to the motor? Did this give you some type of gearing advantage?

The reason i ask is I have been thinking about rigging something up where i can take a round table that might be 6' in circumference and carve a design arount the face of the skirt and wondered if there were gearing ratio's i need to be concerned with?

[magic]

I can't stand it anymore... I NEED an indexer!

Once I have the motor and parts, how is it wired into my Alpha 96?

I'm dying to know.

[ed_lang]

John

He wanted some increase in resolution so he went with the setup you see. He is getting a 3:1 advantage. This gives him more resolution and power. Your indexer has a gearbox on the end of the stepper I bet. This is not the normal ShopBot indexer motor.

[myxpykalix]

Unless somehow the gearbox is internal here is what i have:

34454.jpg

comparing the 2 pix it does look like mine has a longer case maybe for gearing?

I'm sure his setup was less expensive in the longrun but when i bought my shopbot I got the indexer because i knew next to nothing about either at the time.
Magic- here is a pic of how it is wired into my box (what you can see anyway) The big black with the little tag attached is for the indexer.

34455.jpg

[magic]

I don't think I have the same number of those black boxes.

I have 4. your picture shows 5

So now what do I do?

34469.jpg

[toddmaci]

Magic,
If you don't have an indexer I dont believe you should have 5. I believe you have 2 for your x azis, 1 for y and 1 or z. If youadd the indexer you will have one more. If you have an alpha the ribbon cable get connected to slot 5. If you send me an email(in my profile) I can send you a detailed word doc with pictures of how I set mine up.

[myxpykalix]

This is why i let shopbot install mine, because i wasn't willing to take a chance burning something up with a wrong placement of wires so for what was the price of the indexer I bought peace of mind and it was worth it to me just starting out to let them do it right.

[sagreen83]

Jay,

I too have a motor left over from the 7.2 upgrade and really want to build an indexer... Any chance you could come up with a list of part numbers for what you have so others can build the same?

Thanx!
Scott...