- Joined
- Oct 6, 2010
- Messages
- 699
I have adopted several dividing heads over time. None were complete! The metal illness most of us suffer from makes it an easy decision to bring another tool into our home shop but a difficult decision to get rid of them. Not having an immediate need for them I have not got around to getting one of them complete and operational. I have a lathe repair on my list of things to do that can give me that need. That project includes welding some teeth for a recut or a complete gear made from scratch.
I have never used a dividing head and looking for input from those with more experience to guide me toward the right decision to the following questions:
1. Which head should I focus on getting complete and making it usable in repairing an old lathe gear?
2. Which has the best features and is the most useful of the three heads?
3. Is there any advantage to keeping more than one of the heads?
The first dividing head is a 10 incher. It has no makers ID on it but the seller told me it was a Brown & Sharpe. I received only one dividing plate with it and have since acquired a dog drive plate that fits the threaded spindle. The head does have a spindle tilt feature. No gears or center (B&S #10) came with it. The only benefit I can see about completing and keeping this one is that it is “real cool” and I have a B&S #1D horizontal universal mill to set it on (no drive gears with the mill either). I understand I don’t need the gears to make the spur gear repair or new gear from scratch.
B&S 10 Photo:
The second dividing head is a Kikken (made in Japan 1973) 10 inch model. It has no spindle tilting ability. I believe this is what is called a “Super Spacer. It came with only one dividing plate (internal) and a three jaw chuck. I don’t know if it could be used with a center and drive dog. I also wonder about its usefulness for cutting gears.
Kikken 10 Photo:
The third dividing head is a Van Norman 10 inch that came with one dividing plate, a center, and a dog drive plate. The head tilts and the head as a whole is heavy and seems very strong.
Van Norman 10 Photo:
I do have a foot stock and a steady support in this 10 inch size range. Not original to any of the heads but should fill the need. I also have a set of three indexing plates (not from any of the above) lost somewhere in storage that might be adapted to one of the above if I could just find them.
Thanks for any input you may have.
Benny
I have never used a dividing head and looking for input from those with more experience to guide me toward the right decision to the following questions:
1. Which head should I focus on getting complete and making it usable in repairing an old lathe gear?
2. Which has the best features and is the most useful of the three heads?
3. Is there any advantage to keeping more than one of the heads?
The first dividing head is a 10 incher. It has no makers ID on it but the seller told me it was a Brown & Sharpe. I received only one dividing plate with it and have since acquired a dog drive plate that fits the threaded spindle. The head does have a spindle tilt feature. No gears or center (B&S #10) came with it. The only benefit I can see about completing and keeping this one is that it is “real cool” and I have a B&S #1D horizontal universal mill to set it on (no drive gears with the mill either). I understand I don’t need the gears to make the spur gear repair or new gear from scratch.
B&S 10 Photo:
The second dividing head is a Kikken (made in Japan 1973) 10 inch model. It has no spindle tilting ability. I believe this is what is called a “Super Spacer. It came with only one dividing plate (internal) and a three jaw chuck. I don’t know if it could be used with a center and drive dog. I also wonder about its usefulness for cutting gears.
Kikken 10 Photo:
The third dividing head is a Van Norman 10 inch that came with one dividing plate, a center, and a dog drive plate. The head tilts and the head as a whole is heavy and seems very strong.
Van Norman 10 Photo:
I do have a foot stock and a steady support in this 10 inch size range. Not original to any of the heads but should fill the need. I also have a set of three indexing plates (not from any of the above) lost somewhere in storage that might be adapted to one of the above if I could just find them.
Thanks for any input you may have.
Benny