# Universal Dividing Head Identification/restoration



## kyleaudio (Dec 31, 2015)

Hi guys, Happy New Year! I picked up this dividing head about a week ago for $125! There are no markings that would indicate who manufactured it. Does anyone recognize it? 

Everything seems to work fine, it just has a really worn out paint job and I need to find a chuck for it. Anybody know where I can find a 2-1/4" 10 tpi backplate?








Now I'm in the process of taking it apart, stripping the paint off and repainting. I'll post pictures as I progress.

Thanks,
Kyle


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## kyleaudio (Dec 31, 2015)

Disassembled and and paint has been stripped.


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## kyleaudio (Dec 31, 2015)

Pictures of some big taps that were at the place where I bought the dividing head.


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## Silverbullet (Dec 31, 2015)

go back and buy a 2 1/4" - 10 tap and drill for tap , then you can make your own backers or plates . while your there see if they have a 2 1/4" - 8 tap too . I haven't been able to find one of them for mine. you didn't go to cooks did ya.


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## joshua43214 (Dec 31, 2015)

Damn...
Did you grab one of those taps to send to Adam Booth, he loves junk like that...

Nice score on the dividing head. The driven gear looks pretty good in the pic, hope the rest is good too.
No idea who made it, sorry.


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## Chipper5783 (Dec 31, 2015)

Great find and thank you for sharing the pictures.  It should be a crime to pile taps like that.  The guys at work do it all the time and it kills me.

Chuck back plate?  There have been a number of threads on this recently.  I assume you would simply make your own?


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## dlane (Jan 1, 2016)

I believe 2-1/4x10 is hardinge , I have a hardinge 5c spindex that use that spindle thread.
Those are some BA taps


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## kyleaudio (Jan 1, 2016)

Haha, yes, those are definitely some Abom size taps! I think you guys are right though, I'll probably have to make a back plate from scratch. Does anyone know of a good source for un-machined rough cast back plates that would be large enough? I know that littlemachineshop has some, but they say that they only have a 56mm hub, so that won't work.


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## Uglydog (Jan 1, 2016)

I had the exact same DH. But, mine had a cracked casting.
Do you need any parts?
I think she is a Carol.

Daryl
MN


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## Nebraska Kirk (Jan 1, 2016)

Grizzly  has some blank back plates in 6" or 8" diameter. Item #s SB1384, SB1385, SB1386 & SB1387


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## Uglydog (Jan 1, 2016)

I believe I may have extra plates as well...
No extra back plate!

Daryl
MN


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## Nebraska Kirk (Jan 1, 2016)

Grizzly  has some blank back plates in 6" or 8" diameter. Item #s SB1384, SB1385, SB1386, SB138, T10111 & T10112


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## kyleaudio (Jan 1, 2016)

Thanks for the part numbers for the blank back plates!

Daryl, I don't think that I need any parts for mine, Everything seems to be in good condition. I might be interested in dividing plates and any parts that you have for the universal gear train though. Mine are all roughly 5" dia. with a 1.125" bore and the direct indexing plates are 24 and 30 holes and are 4.88" dia. 2.25" bore with a 4.5" dia. hole circle. 

Here are the plates that I have now:
15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
21, 23, 27, 29, 31, 33
37, 39, 41, 43, 47, 49


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## Nebraska Kirk (Jan 1, 2016)

I have a question concerning how many and what tooth count would a set of change gears for a universal head need?  I bought a universal dividing head that does not have any of the change gears, so I figure a future gear making project would be to make those gears.


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## kyleaudio (Jan 8, 2016)

Nebraska Kirk: Good question. I don't know either. My dividing head didn't come with any of the parts of the gear train too. I figure that if I ever have a project that needs it, I'll figure it out then, haha. 

I haven't had much time to work on it lately with holidays, birthdays and other things, but I've got the parts that will be painted cleaned up masked and ready for paint. I'll probably put the first coat on tonight, so I should have updates soon!


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## Nebraska Kirk (Jan 9, 2016)

I have a copy of Fred Colvin's book "How to Run a Milling Machine". The section on dividing heads gives you all the info you would ever need on operating a dividing head. It contains info on not only plain indexing but differential indexing as well with tables that tell you what change gears to use to obtain whatever division you need up to 399.  It even talks about a "wide-range" divider made by Cincinnati that, when used in conjunction with a regular dividing head, makes it possible to get divisions between 2 and 400,000!  There are also tables and formula for selecting change gears for helical milling. This book says that 12 change gears are provided with a universal miller for  use in helical milling, 24, 24, 28, 32, 40, 44, 48, 56, 64, 72, 86, & 100 teeth.


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## kyleaudio (Jan 16, 2016)

Hi guys, I finally have an update. I finished painting and assembling the dividing head last night. Sure looks a lot better than it did when I got it! I still have to assemble the tail stock, so no pictures of that yet.


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## Glenn Brooks (Jan 18, 2016)

Nice looking restoration.  What paint did you use ?  Any undercoat??


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## kyleaudio (Jan 18, 2016)

Thank you! No undercoat, I just made sure everything was very clean. The paint is Ace "Rust Stop", an oil based paint. I've never tried it before but it seems good so far.


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## FOMOGO (Jan 18, 2016)

Looks great. I imagine it weighs a few pounds. Mike


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## kyleaudio (Jan 18, 2016)

Oh yeah. It's a heavy little bugger! Probably something like 60 pounds or so? One of these days I'll stick it on the bathroom scale, haha.


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