Is an indexer right for me?

[wowhuh.mike]

on a scale of 1-10, what kind of a hassle is setting up an indexer. I have a job making a mold for a baluster that is a 7" diameter about 32 long. I can pretty much cover the cost of the 6" indexer with the job and wonder if I should make the move.

I know I could make the mold on my bot as-is, but was thinking of using the job as a way of getting my hands on an indexer. but if you guys all say it's a 10 or 11 on the difficulty scale I better shy away from it. I also wonder if I would be able to post out of visual mill OK to it?

Just typing this out makes me doubt it is something I could get over the learning curve fast enough to use on this project, but who knows - maybe you will all say it's a snap.

and I guess I am assuming I can turn a larger diameter if my chuck stock fits in the 6" indexer jaws. A 12" indexer is certainly out of my price range at the moment.

it's been a while since I posted but thanks as always,
Mike

[genek]

I have not experience with the indexer, before you buy check with Diana and make sure which size of indexer your bot will handle. My shop bot will only do the three inch one. also ask Jack he has a indexer..

[wowhuh.mike]

I have a 12" Z so I am pretty sure I can do the 6 no problem.

[Brady Watson]

A 6" indexer will handle nearly a 12" diameter. @ 24" for the 12" indexer. You can buy one from SB or make one yourself using a wood lathe, stepper, driver & some pulleys and belt.

If you only have to make one master baluster, you could do this easily on your machine with any of the wood lathes out there. Let the lathe spin, then just do a 2D profile cut either from the side (XY) or the top (XZ or YZ).

I would not suggest doing this to someone who needed to make 100 of them, but if you are only making one, then you should be fine. Spin the lathe; spin the router; cut the profile. Take shallow cuts or you'll really dog that lathe down.

Center of the lathe is Zzero. Toolpath accordingly.

-B

[myxpykalix]

Here's the thing about an indexer....If I can figure out how to use one YOU should have no problem.:eek:
All you have to realize is that the rotation of the indexer is in DEGREES (360 to be exact) and that rotation replaces one of your axis (either X or Y) depending on how it is mounted.
Think of it this way...go to your kitchen and look at your paper towel rack. Now tear one sheet off and lay it on the counter....that sheet on the counter is how you now cut on your table...

Now go back to the paper towel rack and holding the end of one paper towel slowly pull it out and roll it back up while visualizing a router centered right above cutting. It is doing the very same thing of cutting on a centerline except the indexer is spinning and replacing the Y axis. It's that simple.

Go back to the very beginning of the "Indexer" catagory section. You see several homemade versions with some instruction on how they made theirs.
You can make one for as little as a few hundred.

The tricky part is you need to make sure you are mounting it in a straight line with your router and level with it. It's not as big a deal as you might think and what you will find is that it opens up a whole new world of design challenges and possibilities that you never thought you could do.

I think you should go for a full blown indexer setup whether you buy one from shopbot (which is what i did) or build it yourself. I think it would be easier to just get a duplicator for a lathe and do it seperately then doing that on the shopbot and i think less dangerous.:D
Bottom line is, get an indexer while you have the "excuse" to justify it you will enjoy it and it will make you more money then almost any other option you could buy...good luck and if you need more help let me know

[wowhuh.mike]

Has anybody used VisualMILL or RhinoCAM with their indexer?

Also, anybody who built up their own version of the 6" indexer have a ballpark number of what it cost? SB is $3075 and am told by Diana @ SB that it is pretty much plug and play with my machine. I'm curious whether I would be saving enough cash to justify the extra time.

I wish I wasn't back to having a day job so I could put more time into it!

[kevin]

look for used a lot of guys have them collecting dust i bought mine from brady

get a shopbot building one yourself with no time is a headache

there is large not huge learing curve look in idexing lots of information

once you use there no going back will make money

[myxpykalix]

You could probably build one for $500.+ but there are many things you need to be aware of, gearing compatibility, correct type of controller, ect.. Probably the cheaper and best solution is to ask guys who have them just sitting around collecting dust if they want to sell, like kevin suggested.

You then don't have any compatability issues to deal with and it is basically like plug and play. :D

[blackhawk]

Mike - Here is a link to the thread about the indexer that I built using a Rikon lathe. It has worked great for me so far. The biggest plus it that I can use it as an indexer and as a regular lathe, just by swapping the belts on and off. Takes about 1 minute to changeover. This is super nice for sanding.

I have drawings for the mounting plate if you want to go that route.

http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11532&highlight=rikon+indexer