Indexing head?

[Romoshka]

Some years ago I bought (some might say stole) a large lot of machining related tooling. This piece has been moved about the shop ever since and I’ve had machinists with years of experience to visit and can’t tell me what it is/used for. It appears to me that the end with a dead center and the the parallel bars (for a dog?) would require a tailstock. No markings anywhere to indicate manufacturer.

 

[projectnut]

To use the center you will need a tailstock. . Many manufacturers sold them separately from the indexing head. The center should be on a taper. It can be removed by running a rod through the head from the other end and tapping it with a hammer

The collar behind the center should unscrew and can be replaced with either a 3 or 4 jaw Chuck. Then you can use the head without a tail stock.

 

[pontiac428]

It's a nice divider, fairly light duty, possibly from a grinder, since it looks light compared to mill dividing heads. It would be more useful with a collet chuck, but there is no provision for drawing a collet through the spindle. It looks like it's limited to taper tools only (maybe a taper to ER collet holder would be nice). So it has some drawbacks, but for indexing parts on centers in the mill or grinder it looks like a good tool.

 

[Romoshka]

To use the center you will need a tailstock. . Many manufacturers sold them separately from the indexing head. The center should be on a taper. It can be removed by running a rod through the head from the other end and tapping it with a hammer

The collar behind the center should unscrew and can be replaced with either a 3 or 4 jaw Chuck. Then you can use the head without a tail stock.

Thank you sir. After what seemed to be an adequate amount of tapping I turned my attention to the end opposite the center. The large knob turned so I proceeded to fully unscrew it and found it was internally threaded and the center was attached to something that resembled a miniature R8 collet but threaded like a 5C. Is this one of those B&S tapers I’ve read of but never seen? Now it tapped out. The tapered spindle with center is keyed in. The collar was removed and the thread is 1.5-16. Guess if I want to attach a chuck I’ll need to make a backing plate. need to make a backing pl

 

[Headhunter Pipe Co]

Some years ago I bought (some might say stole) a large lot of machining related tooling. This piece has been moved about the shop ever since and I’ve had machinists with years of experience to visit and can’t tell me what it is/used for. It appears to me that the end with a dead center and the the parallel bars (for a dog?) would require a tailstock. No markings anywhere to indicate manufacturer.

Indexing wood for inlays..

 

[Dabbler]

@Romoshka this is a really nice piece of kit. You can find a tailstock (or "footstock") from offshore for it. They are very inexpensive and do the job well All tailstock/footstocks for rotary tables are adjustable. It looks very much like a South Bend or Wells Grey unit. They can be used for light milling, such as making small keyways. If you are very patient you can cut gears with it, but your cuts have to be *very* light.

It is 4X more rigid with a footstock.

 

[Romoshka]

@Romoshka this is a really nice piece of kit. You can find a tailstock (or "footstock") from offshore for it. They are very inexpensive and do the job well All tailstock/footstocks for rotary tables are adjustable. It looks very much like a South Bend or Wells Grey unit. They can be used for light milling, such as making small keyways. If you are very patient you can cut gears with it, but your cuts have to be *very* light.

It is 4X more rigid with a footstock.

thanks for that info. And thanks for the footstock-I knew tailstock wasn’t right but couldn’t get footstock to come to mind. I’ll do some research on SB & WG units in an attempt to positively ID it. I’ll also seek out an older foot stock on eBay. I think it’d be shame to match a vintage piece of American steel with an “offshore” mate.

 

[projectnut]

Just an FYI you’ll find almost all listings on eBay are under the heading “tailstock”. Be sure you’re sitting down when you look at the prices.

My LG Chuck brand indexing head also listed it as a tailstock in their catalog. I’m not sure how fancy you want to go but many brands also incorporated a vertical angle adjustment as well as a height adjustment.

 

[Romoshka]

Just an FYI you’ll find almost all listings on eBay are under the heading “tailstock”. Be sure you’re sitting down when you look at the prices.

My LG Chuck brand indexing head also listed it as a tailstock in their catalog. I’m not sure how fancy you want to go but many brands also incorporated a vertical angle adjustment as well as a height adjustment.

I have viewed some eBay listings and I did need to take an additional BP pill.

 

[Dabbler]

I think it’d be shame to match a vintage piece of American steel with an “offshore” mate.

I agree. but as far as using it is concerned an offshore footstock will work as well as the real part. One day, you'll find the matching footstock in a corner somewhere (if you keep diligently looking). Until then, a 25$ offshore footstock will suffice....