Using an indexing ring

Back when I started wood turning, one of the first things I invested in was a 4 jaw self-centering chuck. One of the feature of the chuck is an ‘indexing ring’, which I quickly disovered is not much use to you without a fixed point to lock into the notches.
I’ve been meaning to get around to making something that I can use as a fixed point, to allow me to make proper use of the indexing ring, and this week I finally decided it was required to help me finish a piece I’m working on.

As I noted at the time, I should probably of made it before I tried to use the indexing ring ‘by-eye’ on my wine bottle coaster.

I decided to see what I could achieve with the most rapid construction idea I had. Whilst I considered some complex arrangements, I figured first just try something simple. So I cut a piece of wood the right hight to reach from the shelf beneath my lathe to the indexing ring. I also cut a small ‘foot’ section for it to be glued to with a simple join. The idea is simply to clamp the foot to the shelf holding it in position when required.

To locate in the indexing ring I took a bolt, and ground the end down to fit the holes. I drilled a hole in wooden upright. Then used a spring and a nut to provide some pressure to keep the bolt in place, but simple to pull back to locate in a different hole.

The whole assembly looks like this:

And it took about 15 minutes to make, minus the time it took the glue to dry in the joint.
I’ll find out how effective it is as I complete my next project.