Here's a great project for anyone, requiring only a little bit of stock, novice-level skills and a fun afternoon in the shop!
Having a dial indicator mounted on the bed of the lathe is extremely handy for so many operations, so we've designed this one which we hope you'll like.
All the work is done on the mill, (except for the quick release stud -- more in a bit) and aside from fasteners, the only material you'll need is five inches (actually less,) of .875 square aluminum stock.
-- AND THE PLANS ARE FREE --
This is a view of the clamp itself -- as you can see, no biggie. There are no compound curves or difficult cuts. It's all nice and square.
If you're worrying about the clamping lever, well, you don't have to make that. It's from a bicycle front-wheel quick-release skewer, slightly modified.
More on that in just a bit --
And, if you don't wish to mess around with the quick-releae function, you can still use it with a 1/4 x 20 SHCS.
But let me show you why the quick-release lever
is so cheap and easy...
The axle skewer that I used was off of a garage sale bike I'd bought for another project. But you won't have to do that. Any Target or K-Mart store should have a quick-release seatpost clamp in their bicycle section, for around $5 or so. They all work about the same.
The tightening bolt threads into an aluminum barrel that rides in the off-center hole in the lever arm.
You simply make a different bolt.
I made this stud from .250 brass rod, turned and threaded to fit the barrel and the slot in the lever.
The other end was threaded to 1/4x20, to fit the clamp jaw.
Here are the plans for the body of the clamp.
Just click on them to go to a full-page version.
Feel free to copy it from there.
And here are the plans for the jaw.
Again, click on them to get a full-page version.
It goes without saying that this plan is by no means the only way to build a holder like this. Modify and play around with the design, and let us know how it goes. Feel free to send any pictures of your efforts if you wish.
I hope you'll find this a fun and rewarding project.
We'd like to add more projects as time goes by, and we'd love to consider any ideas you might have for useful and fun subjects, so drop us a line!
In the meantime, keep safe, busy and happy!