# What kind of dividing head is this?



## schilpr (May 9, 2013)

This is for sale not to far away from me, seems like it has some more options then what you normally see.. 

So I'm wondering, is this what would be used on a shaper (or such) to automatically advance with the gears that come with it?

If not, what is it for?

Thanks for any help, trying to learn more.


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## Old Iron (May 9, 2013)

Not to sure about the brand but the gears are for running it of the table of a mill. What I've never seen is the shaft and gear on the chuck.

If the price is good I'd get it, You hardly see them with all the gears.

Paul


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## itsme_Bernie (May 9, 2013)

Like Paul said, looks like it needs to hook up to a mill drive.

Probably to sync a helical gear cutting operation or something


Bernie


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## schilpr (May 9, 2013)

Old Iron said:


> What I've never seen is the shaft and gear on the chuck.



Same here, that was what caught my eye as well.



Old Iron said:


> If the price is good I'd get it, You hardly see them with all the gears.



Price is STEEP, ~$625 is what the buyer is asking.. little rich for my taste, but I can always try to negotiate.


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## Scorpion (May 10, 2013)

I think that's old school direct indexing.  The gears are used to get the divisions on this one instead of having the collar plate on the chuck like mine has (with direct divisions at 30 degree increments).  There's probably a way to disengage the worm gear wheel on this one so the gears run the show without interference of the hand wheel.


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## Rbeckett (May 10, 2013)

It is set up to attatch to the gears on the feed and make helical cut gears and to rotate the stock while cutting.  Old school for sure.  625 is pretty steep.  What diameter is it?  Depending on the diameter it may be too large for most hobby types of mills and lathes too.  Phase II or A2Z from LMS and Griz are much cheaper even if you buy the indexing plates separately and they are brand new with a warranty.  I would not buy the cheapest bargain basement unit because some come from India and are of dubious quality, but the mid grade units are pretty good and the price is a little lower and more in line with a hobbiests budget.  So take a quick look around and see what else is available before you drop such serious coin.  It does seem a bit steep to me for what you showed us.  Just my thoughts, I really hope this helps and please let us know how it all works out too.

Bob


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## schilpr (May 10, 2013)

Thanks for all the input, don't know diameter but center height is 4" (100mm)

Don't know if I really need all these options on a dividing head, but it is a neat item and may have to get it if available for the right price.


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## schilpr (May 10, 2013)

Well, talked to the seller.

Chuck is 6"
Spindle is SK30

Price is firm, no room to negotiate, so I'm going to pass on it.


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## Scorpion (May 11, 2013)

Suppose if the thru-hole is big enough (like 1.5+), it might be worth the coin if its smooth.  Still, $625 is a lot of coin.  You'd need to need it.


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## British Steel (May 11, 2013)

That's not really a *bad* price, when you consider the cost new....

The gear and quadrant arrangement is for compound / differential dividing as well as spiral milling - spiral milling useful in itself for multi-start worms etc (if your mill has a suitable gear to drive it from the x screw), compound indexing is Serious Stuff - the gearing can be set up to rotate the index plate as the spindle rotates ( but much slower!) and that allows.all the.prime-number divisions to be made.... There are a few pages of.Machinery's Handbook devoted to it. I've done.it once, to cut a 127 tooth gear for metric conversion, but under instruction!


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## schilpr (May 11, 2013)

The problem is that I don't need it and I doubt I'll ever really need it or will have the skills to use it. 

It is an interesting setup and would be great as a tool conversation starter but that is not worth my $600. 

I'm just going to keep looking for a decent dividing head, they seem to be plenty full around here. 

It is a damn nice tool though and I hope someone picks it up and uses it, it's been for sale for months and according to the seller I was the first person that responded.


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## george wilson (May 11, 2013)

I'm not sure it really has all the gears. There is a break in size graduation in the stack of gears shown. Too big a jump in size after the 4th. gear down. The rest of the stack goes evenly up in diameters,if you see what I mean.I could be wrong as I don't do spiral milling that much.

There are 2 gears attached to the back end of the head. Maybe they are the one(s) that seem to be missing. The head also has the quadrant,which is rare to find,but no studs to mount the gears on. You could likely make the studs,though.


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## schilpr (May 11, 2013)

All the gears are there with no missing teeth. 

It is a nice set.


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## RayMJr (May 12, 2013)

That is a universal dividing head, and that price is pretty good for it.
Those have been largely replaced by the capability of CNC driven machines.


Ray


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