Caroll dividing head question....

[Dutch]

I confess I've never used a dividing head. This one was *gifted* to my shop complete with all the indexing plates and all the gears. My question: can I rotate the spindle while milling? There's no crank to rotate by hand....? I can see a lot of uses for this for indexing on the mill without using the table gear setup. I'd bet there's a youtube video on this. Thanks for any help...

 

[Nutfarmer]

The drive is usually hooked up to the table feed to cut spirals. Think flutes on a drill. Looks like a nice dividing head maybe a Brown and Sharp or copy. I am sure someone here can make a better identification. It’s primarily used to turn a part like a gear a given number of divisions without hooking up the drive. Lots of information on how to use here and on the net. Nice addition to your tooling package.

 

[OCJohn]

Nice gift.

 

[MyLilMule]

The input shaft on the back is used for differential indexing. Basically, it lets you cut gears and such that don't fit nicely into increments of one of the plates with fixed sets of holes. For example, cutting a 127 tooth gear for metric lead screw conversion. But you also need a special shaft that goes into the center bore. Doesn't look like you have that. Could be made, of course.

If you want to just turn while milling, you can use the crank on the side. This is essentially a clone of the Brown & Sharp universal dividing head. So if you can't find documentation specifically for this maker, search the Vintage Machinery website for the B&S version. Should find all you need to know.

 

[benmychree]

Yes, it is an Asian copy of the B&S, on that model, the shaft for differential indexing fits in the back end on a taper, the same set of gears is used both for differential indexing and spiral cutting. These were made first in Japan by Yamato iron works, then later in China, what made you think it was made by Carroll?

 

[Dutch]

Yes, it is an Asian copy of the B&S, on that model, the shaft for differential indexing fits in the back end on a taper, the same set of gears is used both for differential indexing and spiral cutting. These were made first in Japan by Yamato iron works, then later in China, what made you think it was made by Carroll?

The east coast machinist who sent it said it was a Caroll dividing head.

 

[benmychree]

The east coast machinist who sent it said it was a Caroll dividing head.

The Caroll dividing heads that I have seen look entirely different. I had one like yours that was made by Yamato Iron Works had an nameplate that was branded "News", the shaft coming out the back had a nut to push the taper back out after use. The original B&S had a shaft that had a center in front and the shaft extended out the back, straight with a sets crewed collar to locate the gear in alignment with the rest of the gear train, and a fine threaded nut to retain the gear, this seems to be a rare item, so I had to make one for my original B&S head. Another difference that I see is that the original has a fine adjust feature on the hub of the crank assembly so that the user is able to exactly get the head to index exactly on an existing feature of the workpiece. All this can be seen in the B&S publication "Practical Treatise on Milling and Milling Machines", including dividing tables, spiral leads, indexing movements for graduating, and others, well worth having, look on EB for copies.

 

[verbotenwhisky]

I confess I've never used a dividing head. This one was *gifted* to my shop complete with all the indexing plates and all the gears. My question: can I rotate the spindle while milling? There's no crank to rotate by hand....? I can see a lot of uses for this for indexing on the mill without using the table gear setup. I'd bet there's a youtube video on this. Thanks for any help...

That is a very nice universal dividing head, I am getting ready to buy one and they are quite pricey even for the imports. Based upon my research the dividing head itself can index using the top lever to lock the head in 15 degree increments by extending a pin into the back of the plate just under the pointer on the top. if you are using it to cut spur gears holes or splines you use the dividing feature which requires the dividing plates, you should have 3 or 4 of those, which allows you to cut a feature in increment from 2 to 50 and 52 to 280 with prime numbers excluded. If you want to cut a helix, spiral spline or worm gear you will use a combination of gears, one will connect to your table X axis lead screw on the right hand side of the table and one to the driving shaft extending from the back of the head and several more to independent shafts which will drive the head off the table as it moves while also setting the RPM of the head to the correct feed rate of the table for the spiral you want to cut. there are 2 threaded holes in the back of the head which should hold an additional straight shaft and a banjo or offset arm/shaft for the additional gears to allow them to be setup and adjusted for lash. Here is a vid for you,

hope all of that helped.

 

[benmychree]

There are only 3 dividing plates on this dividing head for the ones that face you in the picture, I have never seen replacements for the plates on the spindle. The only non standard plate for the crank side is an angular indexing plat, a rare item indeed. You will need to find a tailstock for this unit to make it much more useful, especially for work between centers, using it for chucking work is limiting, try to find a center for the front taper with driver, these are not so hard to find, the above post says that the gearing and dividing head would be used on the right hand of the table, this is incorrect; it would be always be used at the left end of the table.

 

[jbaccell]

Yes, the BS-2 embossed on the side is a good indicator that it is a copy of the B&S #2 Universal Dividing Head.