Anyone knows a name for a positioning holder?

Heh... in some circles, it's called a dial indicator stand!

LLoyd

You mean something like these....

Yes, something like that. Thanks.

This may or may not be helpful:

On Fri, 21 Oct 2005 16:40:05 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, Ignoramus15297 quickly quoth:

Positionable arm, articulating arm, RAM Mount.

For crafting or electronics, try "helping hand", VERY HANDY!

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Thanks Larry. I am wondering if anyone simply sells arms with balls and a way to connect them together, instead of all that complex stuff.

Hey Iggy,

You didn't give us much clue as to what size or what holding weight you need, but.... Along with Lloyd's circles, try and search Page 640. Then do a further search for "magnetic indicator base" there, for some REALLY expensive stuff.

Brian Lawson, Bothwell, Ontario

brian, that's very close to what I was looking for and is workable stuff. Thanks a lot. I will save your post in my archive.

On Fri, 21 Oct 2005 20:58:14 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, Ignoramus15297 quickly quoth:

Now that's a troll if I ever heard one. ;)

Got a lathe and/or mill? Got some rod and some bar stock? Got bolts, washers, and wingnuts? Go for it! 'Taint rocket surgery.

Thanks Larry. After some thinking, I found some pieces in my junk pile that, I think, will work nicely. They are three pieces from some conveyor system that was at a now defunct envelope factory. On each piece, I can move an object along the axis and also rotate it around the axis. I can tighten bolts that would stop the sliding or turning. The axis is a square. That means that with three of them, I can make a system that would use two of them as vertical legs, and one as a horizontal axis. I would them use a threaded rod to move the horizontal carriage along the horizontal axis.

I only wish I took more of these from that guy. He was closing down that factory.

What I want to do is to make a system that would move a tig torch precisely along a straight line. That's the idea.

I do believe, Larry... this was a topic some months back, or at least someone posted and had a show and tell on his site. Right good stuff as I remember and quite formidable for strrength and rigidity by it's looks.

Bill

Here's what I do...

Weld or braze two clamp collars at 90 degrees to one another. Two of these assemblies and a few pieces of rod will give you 6 degrees of freedom. The rods in the photo are 1/2", but I've made up connectors as large as 1-1/4" when rigidity was important. 1/2" collars are around $2 each from McMaster.

Most collars are 12L14, and though I've never broken a weld on one, you should keep this in mind if bad things are likely to happen if the weld were to fail. I TIG weld with SS rod.

If you mill a shallow groove as wide the thickness of the collars on each collar they'll nest together and are self- fixturing while welding. Like this...

Ned Simmons

I use a dial indicator kit that includes the indicator, one of these arms, and a modified pair of vise grips that the arm screws into. Each "link" of the arm has a ball on on end and a socket on the other. A cable runs through the arm. When you adjust a lever on one end, a cam tightens the cable and secures the arm. I use it with the visegrip clamped on my toolholder and the indicator touching various points on the lathe headstock and chuck to measure runout.

On Fri, 21 Oct 2005 23:07:15 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, Ignoramus15297 quickly quoth:

Be sure to post pics/specs of the jig on the Dropbox when you're done, Iggy.

Yeah, if only our hindsight was foresight then, eh?

Hell's Bells, man. Mount a pair of magnets to a drawer slide, lay it next to where you want the weld, lay a strip of leather over it (to keep out sparks, etc.), then lay your torch hand on that. Now roll along in a straight line at full TIG speed. ;)

Maybe this would work for other projects. It sounds as if you have this one covered.

On Fri, 21 Oct 2005 16:09:09 -0700, with neither quill nor qualm, BillP quickly quoth:

Ig and I must have missed that thread.

On Fri, 21 Oct 2005 20:09:37 -0400, with neither quill nor qualm, Ned Simmons quickly quoth:

(The links broke when you put them on 2 lines, but I managed.)

Nicely done, Ned. (Gonna derust and clearcoat 'em?)

Yes, I will post them to my projects page.

Yes, but on the other hand, I had enough sense to take at least 3 pieces. Still, I wish I had more brains then.

I want to roll it using a long screw driven by a little gearmotor.

Yes. I want to finish (or completely fail at) the other project that I started, the DC -> AC inverter.

Gotta link?

Thanks,

Wes