Author Topic: Simple Dividing Head  (Read 22948 times)

Offline swilliams

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Simple Dividing Head
« on: October 22, 2013, 02:08:05 PM »
I started this ages ago and then put it aside. Lately I was watching youtube videos by a fella called Doubleboost who built a dividing head and got re-enthused to finish my simple one off.

The dividing head will only have a 24 index plate, but I can make other index plates later if I want to. My idea is to make it so that I can put it in the mill vise and also attach it to the topslide of the lathe. The lathe is good for drilling PCD holes on the face of something. It will have a spindle nose to match my lathe with a 3MT in the guts.

So starting with the spindle



roughing the outside



Needing to really bury the drill in the material



Then touching up my 3/4" drill before burying it too





Now I bored each end out a little for sticking some plugs in



Here's a plug turned up to be a press fit in one end



Then the plugs allowed me to put it between centres. I'm using a dead centre in the tailstock and the one in the headstock was trued up in situ. So the spindle should be running dead true for replicating the nose.



With the nose finished, I screwed the catch plate onto it and roughed out the other side with a pin in another faceplate on the lathe.

So that's where my spindle is at. I then left it sitting on the bench for six months and moved onto the body. More on that when I get around to my next post, hopefully soon.

thanks for looking
Steve

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Re: Simple Dividing Head
« Reply #1 on: October 22, 2013, 02:21:56 PM »
You've been reading my mind Steve.   I have something brewing....but I'm still in the design phase.....I'm watching!

Dave
"Mister M'Andrew, don't you think steam spoils romance at sea?"
Damned ijjit!

Offline Don1966

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Re: Simple Dividing Head
« Reply #2 on: October 22, 2013, 05:51:37 PM »
Hi Steve, I am little curious here and will be tuning in to see how it all unfolds. I thought you already had a VDH.

Don

Offline swilliams

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Re: Simple Dividing Head
« Reply #3 on: October 22, 2013, 10:44:01 PM »
Thanks guys

Dave - sounds pretty cool, maybe I'll hit on the odd idea that you can cherry pick

Don - I have some castings for the VDH, but haven't built it. I did build the pillar tool. The main feature this will have is that I can put it in and out of the mill vice in seconds.

Cheers
Steve

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Re: Simple Dividing Head
« Reply #4 on: October 22, 2013, 11:20:14 PM »
Still reading my mind Steve!   I'm working on a vise mounted unit also!

Dave
"Mister M'Andrew, don't you think steam spoils romance at sea?"
Damned ijjit!

Offline swilliams

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Re: Simple Dividing Head
« Reply #5 on: October 23, 2013, 12:00:56 AM »
Cool Dave - I've got to the stage where everything is pretty set in stone steel now. So no use me trying to extract any of your ideas. Will be be most interested to see how you go about it of course.

Anyway, I'm off to work
Steve

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Re: Simple Dividing Head
« Reply #6 on: October 23, 2013, 01:31:44 AM »
OK....state of the state....I think it's coming along.

The vise jaws are shown either side of the body for reference ( My 4" Glacern Vise)
I've based this fairly closely to the VDH, but of bar stock
The spindle lock is on top with the over arm locks to get it out of the way of the vise jaws
The center height of the spindle is 2.56 inches to match my Southbend height from the top of the cross slide.
I have grooves down either side to allow for clamping to the cross slide directly.
I'll be putting a bolt on lip to locate the spindle square to the cross slide
The second photo shows the head at 30 degrees in the vise.
I moved the over arm out 1/32" to CLEAR a 2" diameter work piece.
The spindle nose is 1.5 x 8 with a 1.509" register diameter and the bore is 3C for use with a stub draw bar.
No tailstock...just the overarm.   Anything over 2" I can do in the big dividing head.

Constructive Comments welcome!

Dave
"Mister M'Andrew, don't you think steam spoils romance at sea?"
Damned ijjit!

Offline swilliams

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Re: Simple Dividing Head
« Reply #7 on: October 23, 2013, 01:49:50 AM »
Looks good Dave. Yours is a lot more sophisticated than mine will be. I'm putting a 3rd MT in mine and using the lathe's 3C collet adaptor. That way I can pass a 20mm bar through it. Have you thought about whether the front sticks out past the vice enough, you want to be able to have room for a decent sized chuck? You can always make the spindle a little longer if necessary.

All up, I like it!
Steve

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Re: Simple Dividing Head
« Reply #8 on: October 23, 2013, 02:04:27 AM »
Looks good Dave. Yours is a lot more sophisticated than mine will be. I'm putting a 3rd MT in mine and using the lathe's 3C collet adaptor. That way I can pass a 20mm bar through it. Have you thought about whether the front sticks out past the vice enough, you want to be able to have room for a decent sized chuck? You can always make the spindle a little longer if necessary.

All up, I like it!
Steve

Great points Steve...I'll look at that!

Dave
"Mister M'Andrew, don't you think steam spoils romance at sea?"
Damned ijjit!

Offline Don1966

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Re: Simple Dividing Head
« Reply #9 on: October 23, 2013, 02:13:18 AM »
I ilke it Dave, but I would move the spindle locking pad to the opposite side away from the over arm pads,they might create problems. I agree with Steve on spindle length also.

Don

Offline swilliams

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Re: Simple Dividing Head
« Reply #10 on: October 23, 2013, 09:22:47 AM »
Next instalment



Inside thread for the spindle retaining nut. This nut will also end up having the division plate mounted on it



family shot as I left it six odd months ago. The block will be the body. Onto the new stuff :)



Knocking the block into shape on my shaper. My shaper has a auto-feed to go up and down as well as side to side. Quite handy for this sort of thing  :DrinkPint:



Finished it off on the mill with a fly cutter. Here's how it will fit on the topslide.



Sliced a bit of steel down the long line to get a bit to make an extra long t-nut. I finally got my horizontal bandsaw cutting nice and straight



Here's the long nut. I'll make a stradle clamp for the dividing head.





bored out an 11/16" hole in the side to put a clamping cotter in.

That's getting pretty close to me being up to date. I'm gonna try and buy some bar on Saturday morning to make a between centres boring bar. Then I can bore the guts out and get more serious about finishing off the spindle.

 :cheers:
Steve

Offline swilliams

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Re: Simple Dividing Head
« Reply #11 on: October 24, 2013, 01:11:46 PM »
I rough bored the body out tonight



You can see the locking cotter sticking out



On Saturday morning I'll attempt to get some steel bar to make a between centres boring bar. Then I'll finish bore it with it bolted onto the topslide.

 :DrinkPint:
Steve

Offline Don1966

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Re: Simple Dividing Head
« Reply #12 on: October 25, 2013, 04:56:57 AM »
Looking good from here Steve. What's holding the locking cotter in place? Did you go all the way thought?
 :noidea:

Don

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Re: Simple Dividing Head
« Reply #13 on: October 25, 2013, 05:13:38 AM »
Looks Awesome Steve!

Dave
"Mister M'Andrew, don't you think steam spoils romance at sea?"
Damned ijjit!

Offline swilliams

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Re: Simple Dividing Head
« Reply #14 on: October 25, 2013, 05:30:04 AM »
Thanks guys.

Don - There's a 6mm cap screw around the other side. I counter bored it so that I can still bolt it down on the topslide to finish off the boring. The cotter comes up against a shoulder.

Steve

 

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