Dividing Head
Overview
My dividing head is to my own design based on combining the best bits of various other designs. My objective was to make a sturdy design with a wide footprint giving rigidity and security. It is made entirely without castings, using readily-available round and flat bar stock. Divisions are set using a gear train; I use the gears from my Warco WMT 300 lathe, but any suitable gears would do.
The dividing head is designed for use either on the Myford cross slide or the milling machine table. This allows operations with the cutting tool either axial or radial with respect to the spindle.
The spindle nose is the same as the Myford, allowing interchangability of tooling, e.g. chucks, collets, etc. The spindle runs in cast iron bearings and the front bearing is split to allow for a spindle lock, an essential feature of any dividing head.
Specification
Spindle taper – MT2
Spindle nose – as for Myford
Centre height – coincident with Myford centre height when bolted to Myford cross slide
Materials – spindle – free cutting mild steel; body – bright flat bar; banjo – aluminium; spindle bearings – cast iron
Drawings and Construction Notes
I have added rough drawings below. These could do with a bit of formatting and tidying up, but should be sufficient to allow you to make the dividing head. Although every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, please note that I do not guarantee the accuracy of the drawings and accept no responsibility or liability for any errors or consequent losses. The drawings are provided free of charge for private hobby use at your own risk. They may not be used for commercial purposes or reproduced in any form without my permission. Please acknowledge this website if forwarding the drawings to your friends. Construction notes are not yet available. Thank you for your understanding.
Hi
I would be very interested to receive your Drawings and construction notes for the Dividing head you have designed.
it is my wish to machine Meccano gears, and your design looks most practical & desireable.
Look forward to your reply
Regards
Mike Fallows
Mike, thank you for your interest. I am still working on the drawings and construction notes and I will update the website as soon as they are available. Many thanks, Alex.
Good day Alex. I purchased your book on dividing today. I would appreciate a copy of the drawings/construction notesfor your dividing head design. Thank you, Natie
Hi Natie. Many thanks for purchasing my book – I hope you have found it useful. I have uploaded drawings for the dividing head in PDF format. These are not the final ‘polished’ versions of the drawings but should be sufficient to make the tool. Please let me know how you get on or if you have any questions or problems in making the DH. Best wishes, Alex.
Dear sir, I recently purchased your book and found it extremely well written, it’s people like you that give the “new guy” confidence to try new things. I down loaded your plans for the dividing head. It’s the next project!
Thank you for all the help and inspiration
John, many thanks for your comment and I am pleased you found the book helpful. It’s always good to get feedback. Good luck with the dividing head. Alex.