BROWN & SHARPE UNIVERSAL DIVIDING HEAD

Nothing is so bad that it can't be worse! That dividing head has several small problems, but they look to be minor, nothing that cannot be fixed. We are starting with a mechanism that is nearly the pinnacle of American design and manufacture, all it needs is some TLC. I had to buy three dividing heads on e rape before I had all the parts to make a satisfactory dividing head for my #2 Universal light type milling machine; a person just has to accept the fact that nothing in this world is perfect and one must expend some effort to have something that approaches perfection. In my mind there are two manufacturers that came closest to that ideal; B&S for one, and Pratt & Whitney for another; both date back to the beginnings of industrial excellence in this country.
 
I agree this is a worthy candidate for restoration benmychree! Still don't have my mini endmills, but did buy the other 2 indexing plates & have my eye on a few tailstocks. Any chance you could take pics of your indexing gearset? I'm curious of as to what the hole diameters are & of what the mounting brackets measure to. Thanks for all your input everyone!
 
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BROCKWOOD said:
I agree this is a worthy candidate for restoration benmychree! Still don't hamy mini endmills, but did buy the other 2 indexing plates & have my eye on a few tailstocks. Any chance you could take pics of your indexing gearset? I'm curious of as to what the hole diameters are & of what the mounting brackets measure to. Thanks for all your input everyone!
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I will do that in the next few days The hole diameter on all the change gears is 1". It seems that most of the gear sets stayed with the machine itself in the compartment in the machine base.
 
Mini end mills came in. 5/64 - 9/64. But 12 hour shift begs me to wait until tomorrow night to begin using them.

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BROCKWOOD said:
Mini end mills came in. 5/64 - 9/64. But 12 hour shift begs me to wait until tomorrow night to begin using them.

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I have sketches made of the gear mounting brackets and the shaft that drives the change gears when doing differential indexing; it replaces the center that normally is used in the spindle hole and I also found a drawing of a crank handle that fits over the dividing head crank that is handy when doing rotary milling with the dividing head; I saw one in a B&S publication but have never seen one as a catalog item.
Rather than try to scan the drawings, I'd rather send them to you through the mail; E Mail me at york@napanet.net with your mailing address.
 
Index stop pin (702) cleaned up very nicely with a 3/32" end mill. Works good as new! I wasn't happy with the spring I had picked for Spindle Stop (707) so beehived the end of a stronger spring & that works much better. Now the detent spring for the Spindle Stop Lever (706) will take some figuring & a better 'bullet'. Just about ready to blow this thing apart for some restoring!!! Also, have the other 2 index plates & some of the gear train coming soon. Looks like this dividing head will be making it's own gears.

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New parts came in today! I thank John for his help. Packing on the index plates is over the top. The 1 on the left, however, has all the holes too small. It's a start. Idler gear / bracket & crank handle though, awesome!!

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Do you have a copy of B&S "Practical Treatise on Milling and Milling Machines"? It is a must have item; today my project was graduating a 12" blacksmith's brass hook rule; it is done by gearing the dividing head spindle to the mill table as illustrated in the aforementioned book, and in the case of the rule I made is graduated in 1/16" graduations, 12" long made of 1/8" brass with a handle at one end and a hook on the other; for 1/16" graduations it takes about 5 min. per inch of graduations, 10 turns of the worm shaft being required for that interval. I hope to take and post some pictures of the operations.
Brockwood, I'm happy to see that the items arrived in good order; after I sent them off I found two of the washer faced bolts that hold the idler gear and compound gear brackets on the dividing head and end of table, but they need to be threaded back a little more to be usable and they do not have the screwdriver slot on the face of the hex as the originals do; I will LUK if it is possible to modify them, or you can of course make your own from the sketches I sent you.
 
Yes I do have a copy of B&S "Practical Treatise on Milling and Milling Machines". I am slowly soaking it up. Your job sounds much more interesting than mine. But, at home I get to see what I can come up with while restoring some neat old equipment! I didn't get the letter yet (just the package), so I'm sure to elaborate more when it comes.
 
I now know that I need a set of 14P gear cutters for either a 1" or 1.250" arbor to cut my gears!
 
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