Dividing head for Taig lathe/mill

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joe d

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Hi all

Having choked after looking at the prices of factory-made gears, I've decided that I really need to learn to cut my own. So, I need a dividing head suitable for my Taig mill and lathe. Enter Tony Jeffrees... who has designed just the beastie required (see here: http://www.jeffree.co.uk/pages/divheadmk1.html )

I've started with the spindle:
100_2168.jpg


Engineering Change No 1: decided that the spindle nose should be threaded 3/4-16 so all my Taig tooling will fit, this necessitated a filing guide to make the hex...(you all know how this goes... need a tool to make a tool to make a tool.....)
100_2179.jpg


And here we are: spindle finished.
100_2180.jpg


Don't touch that dial, more to come!

Cheers, Joe
 
Looking forward to this Joe, thanks for sharing 8) ............ good start on the spindle

CC
 
VERY NICE Joe Thm:
how long did it take to file the hex ?
Regards Rob
 
Thanks CC, Rob: the hex is 1" across the flats, started at 1.20" dia, so it wasn't bad.. half an hour including a smoke and a cuppa. The material is leaded steel, so it cuts (and files) a treat. I will have to keep after it to keep the rust down, well, who said this was low maintenance :big:

Joe
 
Is that 12L14 really that much easier to work with than the 1018 I'm using? I've got tons(It seems :D) of the stuff that are cast offs from work. It appears we don't use any leaded steel in anything we are making. We do use lots of 304, 316, 321, 347, and 4140. The 1018 is always rusted completely over its surfaces, but the 4140 appears to take longer than one to two weeks before it is completely covered with rust. This is Houston weather with 95 degree days at 80% humidity and almost daily rainstorms, 98-100% humidity nights are common after rain in the late afternoon.

and I'm blabbing without much point.......(maybe I'm getting rusty at small talk :p )

my question being how much easier is it to work leaded steel than low carbon steel?

Kermit
 
I made a crankshaft for the Open Launch engine out of 1018.
Then I tried the same thing for the Horizontal Mill out of 1018.
I failed at that (not because of the metal) and tried again using 12L14.
For me, the difference was astounding.

I don't have much experience but I'm wondering why I would ever use 1018 again.
I have the same question in the Horizontal Mill thread but no answers yet.
 
zeeprogrammer said:
I don't have much experience but I'm wondering why I would ever use 1018 again.
I have the same question in the Horizontal Mill thread but no answers yet.

Well, I tried to find something online that'd tell you 12L14 wasn't as strong as 1018. I found the opposite. We hardly ever use it at work, and I don't know why.

http://www.onlinemetals.com/alloycat.cfm?alloy=12L14
http://www.onlinemetals.com/alloycat.cfm?alloy=1018

...sorry for dragging the thread off topic.
 
Vernon said:
Well, I tried to find something online that'd tell you 12L14 wasn't as strong as 1018. I found the opposite. We hardly ever use it at work, and I don't know why.

Maybe lead and weldability has something to do with it ???

Best Regards
Bob
 
Joe, I made one similar to Tony's, and it works great for gear cutting with the Taig. You'll get you're moneys worth out of it!

So, how did you cut the thread on the spindle?

Dean
 
Dean

I've been looking at this for quite a while, been wishing to learn gear cutting both for the sake of learning it and I've got a couple of projects down the road that will require some gears...

As I've not yet made the lead-screw mod to my Taig (need some gears...so we're back to the dividing head :D) I cheated, jobbed out the screw cutting to a couple of young fellows 10 minutes down the road from me who are trying to make a go of their machine shop. They not only tolerated me watching them like a hawk, they didn't complain of all the drooling I was doing looking at their equipment.... they set it up in a 4-jaw that weighs more than me, on a lathe bigger than my car, touched up the cutter and cut the thread all in about 10 minutes, probably would have been even quicker if they weren't busy answering all may questions :big: All in all a pleasant experience, they'll get more of my business.

Joe
 
Interesting project, Joe. I already have a dividing head that I built a number of years ago, but I love following the progress on a well built tool!

Chuck
 
Vernon said:
...sorry for dragging the thread off topic.

Vernon: It's all metal... it's on topic!

Chuck: We'll see about well-built, but I certainly appreciate your confidence!

A little more done today:

cut and assembled some 2" ali angle to form the body, installed a little indexing strip to keep things aligned on the carriage, turned some bronze bushings
100_2181.jpg


Boring the holes for the bushings
100_2182.jpg


and bushings in place, waiting for the loc-tite to do it's thing
100_2184.jpg


once the bushings are bored to size for the spindle, the whole thing will get cleaned up and polished....

Joe

 
joe d said:
Dean

As I've not yet made the lead-screw mod to my Taig (need some gears...so we're back to the dividing head :D) I cheated, jobbed out the screw cutting to a couple of young fellows 10 minutes down the road from me who are trying to make a go of their machine shop.
Joe

Hey Joe, if ya ain't cheatin', ya ain't tryin' hard enough!

Besides it's not cheating if you don't yet have the set up to do it. After all, you can't make bricks without some mud.
It looks like this is coming along nicely. Good going.

Dean
 
hi guys

A little more done, finished boring the bushings, cleaned it all up, drilled and tapped the gear for set-screws, and put it all together....
100_2188.jpg

100_2187.jpg


Next up: spindle brake, and then on to something to hold the worm...

Cheers, Joe
 
Joe,

That's a nice piece of kit. :bow:

Best Regards
Bob
 
VERY NICE,,,,,,,,, Joe :bow:,,, Did you build the boring head too

Regards Rob
 
Thanks, Bob & Rob!

Yes, that's a shop-built boring head as well. see here

So far, I like making tooling...I find it pretty much as rewarding as the projects that I can then build using them.

Cheers, Joe

(PS Bob: can you make that link work? I've forgotten yet again how to do that... :wall: )
 

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