J & W Dividing Head Question?

[GarageGuy]

I just picked up a pair of J & W dividing heads at an industrial garage sale. I wiped the gunk off of them today and they look great. No rust, and they turn smoothly and easily. The dividing plates look the same even though the heads are different size. I would like to cut spur gears in a variety of sizes, and will need more plates. My question is: are J & W plates the same as some other brands of plates? Is there a crossover between certain brands?



The dimensions are: 5" outside diameter, 1.120" inside diameter, .250" thick, and three mounting holes.

Just got things unpacked today, so I hope to get some more photos up soon.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Bob Korves]

The plates are not at all standardized. They are also usually hardened and so are difficult to modify easily. That said, it ain't rocket science. If the center hole will fit or can be made to fit, if the mounting screw hole size and mounting pattern is the same with the same type countersinks, if the range of movement of the pin on your handle will reach all the hole circles, if the plate thickness or thinness will not be an issue, and if the plates are not too big to interfere with mounting them or mounting the head, then they will work. I have a full set plus more to fit my head, so no problems, but it occurred to me that they can be made via CNC fairly easily, and for home shop light use they do not need to be hardened and perhaps could even be made of aluminum, if you can find someone with a CNC rig willing to help you for not too high a price. Or, perhaps get some on Ebay, but be really careful to get plates that will work for you and sometimes the prices there are high.

 

[GarageGuy]

I looked briefly on eBay to see what was there, and the prices seemed to be around $75 per plate. That's not cheap, but it's not crazy either. I don't know anyone with a CNC mill, but I remember seeing an online bolt circle calculator that you could enter parameters into, and with a DRO could drill supposedly accurate bolt circles. I'm pretty sure by the time you were finished, $75 would seem cheap, though.

GG

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