Dividing head

[NortonDommi]

The pin with the lockout for the dial always seems to snap free when turning it, not sure if I'm doing it wrong or if there is some sort of adjustment?

Pull it out and give it a turn and it should lock in position. Use the handle opposite to turn.

 

[Papa Charlie]

Its an old Enco 9x49 knee mill...

View attachment 334716

-Bear

Nice looking unit. Hope to find one like it when I get my shop set up.

 

[682bear]

I finished the gears for the Hendey this afternoon...



I should have this project finished tomorrow and be able to run the Hendey again.

-Bear

 

[tjb]

Nice work, Bear. Interesting you made that gear out of bronze. I have a chunk of metal down in my shop - not a clue where I got it - and I don't know if it's brass or bronze. I've been assuming it's brass, but it's very similar in color to your gear. I thought bronze would be a good deal darker. How do you tell the difference?

Regards,
Terry

 

[Cooter Brown]

Nice work, Bear. Interesting you made that gear out of bronze. I have a chunk of metal down in my shop - not a clue where I got it - and I don't know if it's brass or bronze. I've been assuming it's brass, but it's very similar in color to your gear. I thought bronze would be a good deal darker. How do you tell the difference?

Regards,
Terry

Brass is very yellow in color but Bronze is usually more orange unless you have 863 Bronze which has a light yellow color... Brass chips are kinda like aluminum, while Bronze chips more like Cast iron.... Except for 863 Bronze those chips are just like 1045 steel....

 

[tjb]

My material seems to be a little more 'crumbly' when I mill it. Color similar to Bear's gear. Also, it's very heavy. Here are some pictures. The lighting is not great, so color may be difficult to determine; chips are clearly visible in the photos.



What do you think?

Regards,
Terry

 

[682bear]

My material seems to be a little more 'crumbly' when I mill it. Color similar to Bear's gear. Also, it's very heavy. Here are some pictures. The lighting is not great, so color may be difficult to determine; chips are clearly visible in the photos.

View attachment 336223View attachment 336224View attachment 336225

What do you think?

Regards,
Terry

It looks like bronze to me, but I'm no expert... it doesn't look like brass, brass is more yellow.

-Bear

 

[tjb]

It looks like bronze to me, but I'm no expert... it doesn't look like brass, brass is more yellow.

-Bear

Thanks. I'm no expert on them either.

 

[Steve R]

I have the same one as the OP. Being ignorant, I thought maybe I could pivot it vertical and hold work on a vertical mill. Nope, not rigid enough for even small cuts. That was a disappointing, but I have nothing to compare it to as for whether any other brand would work any better.

I was looking at ordering this BS-1 with my mill and I need to use it in the vertical position. Was the whole thing flexing?? Did you have the tilt locks tight?? Was there too much back lash in the chuck that allowed it to move?? Is there a way to lock the chuck from turning??

 

[AllenHendey]

I finished the gears for the Hendey this afternoon...

@682bear My gearhead 12x30 came with the feed screw drive gears missing, replaced by a toothed belt & pulleys. This works, but it reverses the rotation of the feed screw relative to the spindle, making my feed controls backward and making the automatic feed stop mechanism not work at all.
I'd be curious to hear how you decided to tool up & make your own gears vs. buying pre-fab (if available) or outsourcing the process as I'm still weighing those three options myself. I have a knee mill and lathe, but would need to buy a dividing head and cutter & arbor and some 3.25"ø stock—at least—before I could make the gears I need.