Hello Tony,

I've made several indexing plates using 1/4" Birch Plywood as the base. I
drilled a hole in the center to fit the lathe spindle, slipped the plywood onto
the spindle, screwed on a chuck or faceplate to hold the plywood solid. Turn the
plywood round, move in a bit from the rim and cut a shallow groove with a skew
chisel. Measure the diameter of the groove you've cut and multiply that by pi
(3.14159). Divide that sum by the number index holes you need. Set a pair of
dividers to that dimension and step off your number of holes around the groove.
If your setting is exact, the last step should end up in the first hole
position. Now, use a Forstner bit (I use 1/4" drill) and drill holes about half
way through the plywood. You now have an indexing plate.

Note: If you work out the setting for the dividers and work backward to get the
diameter of the groove, you will simplify the setting of the dividers.

Take a flat board and drill a hole in its center. Saw a slot in one end with a
hack saw. Clamp this board to your lathe bed and take an old hacksaw blade and
slide it up and down until the hole in the end will line up with one of the
holes in your index plate. Glue the blade into the board and break off the
portion below the board. Now, turn a short length of 1/4" dowel down to fit
throught the hole in the hacksaw blade. Glue it to the hacksaw blade with epoxy
or super glue. You now have the indexing pin to position your indexing plate.
Simply pull the hacksaw blade back, rotate to the next position and allow the
dowel to enter the hole. I actually used brass rather than wood for the indexing
pin and rivited it to the hacksaw blade, but wood should work fine.

Caution: Don't turn on the lathe while the indexing pin is engaged with the
indexing wheel.

These work great for occasional use.

Fred Holder
http://www.fholder.com

In article , Tony Wells
says...

Some help please. Whilst the Super Nova 2 chuck now has an indexing ring, my
original Super Nova hasn't, and I need one to achieve a series of equally
spaced holes around a bowl rim. The headstock design of my Draper lathe
prevents me from attaching anything to that, so has anyone fitted one
directly to the chuck or it's jaws please?

TIA

Tony Wells.