Dividing Head

[choptop]

Hello all, Not sure were to put this but i am getting into engine building and i am in need of understanding the simple dividing head to cut my own gears..  I am wanting to purchase one and i have been searching this site on a topic of gear cutting and with some pictures but cant seem to find any??  Help would be great and an idea what to purchase please...

Thanks

[gbritnell]

This fellow that goes by the name of Tubal Caine has a whole series on machine shop tool usage. I have watched a number of them and they are very well done. Here's the link to one on using the dividing head. Give it a look.
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIg8InzUu3U" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIg8InzUu3U</a>
gbritnell

[choptop]

Thanks for the information....

[philjoe5]

Ivan Law's book "gears and Gear Cutting" is highly recommended.  It helped me through the gear making process.  There are several youtube videos on the subject also, this one helped me:

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRmQpSGUAY8" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRmQpSGUAY8</a>

Depending upon where you're located, you may find a good used dividing head.  A Van Norman would be a bonus, though other fine older units can be found. 

New dividing heads can be purchased and I've used this one to make some gears in the 24 - 32 dp range

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Dividing-Head-Type-BS-0/G1053

Good luck in your search.  Once you learn how to make spur gears, you'll be surprised at how easy it all goes. 

Cheers,
Phil

[choptop]

Thanks for the reply,  I found a indexing head in the back of my shop forgot i had one..  This is a Bison super spacer and it has divisions of 2,3,4,6,8,12, and 24 and all i do is set the handle to the desired number and ratchet it..  Does anybody know how to use this and or no what I'm talking about?  I am trying to get the manual but no luck yet...

Thanks

[Stuart]

Have a look here

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PywyMVFiY4g" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PywyMVFiY4g</a>

He rambles a bit but he does show how to use a super spacer

Stuart

[PStechPaul]

I have a 6" Vertex rotary table I've never used, but I don't have the dividing plates. I found some on eBay for about $100. I think they would be very useful:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VERTEX-DP-1-DIVIDING-PLATE-SET-FOR-4-6-ROTARY-TABLES-/321467624381

Here is my rotary table as I was trying to use it for a project. I did not use this setup and there are several things wrong with it:





I think I may need a chuck that can attach to the table to hold round work. Perhaps the center hole may fit a Morse Taper and I have a mini-lathe chuck with an MT-1 taper. Or I might be able to use collets for common size round pieces. I would also like to be able to cut gears, but it seems that there are a lot of different gear cutters and they are rather specific for pitch and diameter.

[choptop]

No luck on the manual they said the indexing head is old.... I am looking for a new one now....

[Mosey]

I have that same rotary table sold by Grizzly some years ago. The plates should be available, and are very useful. You can cut gears of most any number of teeth with it. I strongly suggest that you find or make the plates, and use it for your gears.
I might be able to send a PDF of the manual to you given a little time, and I will see what I have.
The center hole is MT-2, but you will need to hold your chuck or whatever with a bolt through the back.
I think it is worth the effort to make this guy work for you.
By the way, there are 3 plates in the set and you want all of them.
Mosey

PS: I have the manual which is 25 pages, so I don't know if I can get it to you without a little thought. It is Grizzly #PC7045.

[philjoe5]

I used a rotary table without dividing plates to cut some of my first gears BUT they were easy.  They were a 30T and 60T set so I just had to advance the table 12 and 6 degrees respectively.  That works OK for casual use.

Once I realized I'd be making gears of many different sizes I bought the dividing head with plates.  It's a lot easier.  Think of it as a mechanical DRO.

Paul, you're right about the multitude of gear cutters.  You can buy sets of 8 in pitches ranging from around 45 to 20 from CTCTools at around $150 a set.  These are "metric" gears but when you're making pairs, it's not an issue.  Unless you can find a good used set in US pitches it's a relatively inexpensive route to learn gear making.

Cheers,
Phil

[fcheslop]

The dividing plates are available in the UK
As to cutters make youre own. It may have been Marv or Gail who did an XL spread sheet to calc button sizes and spacing.
The cutter arnt difficult to make or just buy two sets and alter the toy to take the gears you can machine.
cheers

[choptop]

With what i have, the divisions that are with the head 2,3,4,6,8,12,24 and it adjusts to the ddivision i want say set at 8 i can then ratchet the chuck but i am not sure what i have there..  Say i want a 34 tooth gear what do i do? what do i take devided by what will = what? i am lost on this but if i get a new head it will be current and have instructions etc..

[Jo]

I am confused 

Could you post a photo of this dividing head so we have a better idea what you are talking about 

Jo

[Jasonb]

Your Superspacer is just an indexer and will only give you the range of sizes that you have mentioned ( 2-24). As a temporary measure you could mark degrees around the edge but it would not be very accurate especially for numbers of teeth that are not easily divided into 360. Jo think of an indexer but iunstead of pulling out the pin, rotate, put pin back you just pull on a lever and it jumps round to the next division hence the term ratcheting

The most versatile option is a rotary table with set of indexing plates as this can not only be used for dividing but also machining curved work though there is a limit to the numbers they can divide,

For the best range of divisions than a true divining head that can take plates and a compound gear train is whats needed.