# deciding what I need ?



## Rob. Smith (Dec 1, 2012)

Hello people...I want to buy some accessories for my lathe/mill and I am a little confused with the applications.  I want an attachment to mill "round" bits  What is the difference between a  ROTARY TABLE   an  INDEXING HEAD  and a  DIVIDING HEAD.  They all look pretty similar to me ( there are attachments for each one to do gear cutting etc.) Sooo...which one should I choose ?   Any info will be greatly accepted.    Rob.


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## 7HC (Dec 1, 2012)

Rob. Smith said:


> Hello people...I want to buy some accessories for my lathe/mill and I am a little confused with the applications.  I want an attachment to mill "round" bits  What is the difference between a  ROTARY TABLE   an  INDEXING HEAD  and a  DIVIDING HEAD.  They all look pretty similar to me ( there are attachments for each one to do gear cutting etc.) Sooo...which one should I choose ?   Any info will be greatly accepted.    Rob.



AFAIK, an indexing head and dividing head are the same thing, i.e a rotary table that has a plate or plates drilled with a pattern of holes that can be attached to the crank to allow the table to be turned a repeatable number of degrees.  
A rotary table is the same piece of equipment without those indexing plates, although it will normally have a 360 degree scale engraved around the perimeter of the base.

If you're going the CNC route then just get a rotary table to convert to the fourth axis, if you're staying manual then go for the indexing/dividing head.

M


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## Richard King (Dec 1, 2012)

*What is the difference between a ROTARY TABLE an INDEXING HEAD and a DIVIDING HEAD*



Rob. Smith said:


> Hello people...I want to buy some accessories for my lathe/mill and I am a little confused with the applications.  I want an attachment to mill "round" bits  What is the difference between a  ROTARY TABLE   an  INDEXING HEAD  and a  DIVIDING HEAD.  They all look pretty similar to me ( there are attachments for each one to do gear cutting etc.) Sooo...which one should I choose ?   Any info will be greatly accepted.    Rob.




Dear Rob, You will get more info if you ask the question in the title.

I'm not a machinist. I am a machine rebuilder..but will give it a shot.   A rotary table has a crank so you can mill a hole or circle.  It has a circular scale so you can mill angles.  Many have 2 positions; laying flat or at 90 deg's.  It has a round or square table that has tee slots in it like a Mill table top so you can bolt parts to it.  Now I get  iffy....but the other two, have 3 jaw chucks and one has replaceable plates and when you crank spring loaded handle it a handle to index to set degrees where a pin in the handle fall into the hole.  I am sure some of the other guys can do a better job then me..but next time ask a question in your title please.


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## OldMachinist (Dec 1, 2012)

Rotary table
Just like the name says it has a table that can be turned around a axis. They come in vertical, horizontal and some can do both. Some have accessories to convert them to do dividing.




Index head
They are simular to above but have some way of doing pre-defined indexes. This could be by changing plates. Super spacers fall in this catagory. Again some have accessories to do dividing.





Dividing head
Has index plates to do divisions for gears or splines. Some have a master index plate on the spindle to do simple divisions of up to 24. They also can be rotated to angled cuts. Comes in different styles(plain, semi-universal and universal).


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## Rob. Smith (Dec 2, 2012)

Thanks guys for the info....It looks like I'll get a dividing head....there's one available here in OZ that can be rotated 95 degrees through the vertical axis. I think this will suit my needs.


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