Thinking about getting a Dividing headset (chuck for a mill) - any advice

Spotshooter

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The title pretty much says it...

PM has a couple that are on sale, and I would like to be able to meter cuts and drilling holes on circular stock.

A bonus would be one day adding a CNC so I could cut spirals.. that that’s way beyond what I’m thinking right now.

Thoughts ?
 
I bought a Super Indexer from PM when I got my 833 a couple months ago. You may check to see if they received a shipment of those, too. I'd give them a call and see what they may have that's not on the website.
 
Advice is an opinion and opinions are like a$$70!2$, everybody has one and most of them smell pretty bad. So, I won't advise, just tell about what I have set up. What works for me. . .

First off, I do small work, largely model building. I have two(2) rotary tables, one with a fraction plate in place for dividing. Small, 4 or 5 inch in diameter. Worm ratios at 90:1, I think, may be 72:1.

One has a 3" chuck mounted to the plate that is removable and interchangable from one to the other. I use a 3 jaw chuck for the 6X12 Japanese lathe that bolts to a hub on the spindle. I cut a groove around the back part of the chuck and made clamps to fasten it to the table.

It's a PITA to set up, but doable. The center of the tables has a MT0 or MT1 inside taper. I use a drill that is broken but still true for alignment. Setting the chuck in place on the drill shaft and clamping to it. Then setting the 4 clamps to the table. Opening the chuck enough to remove the drill. It doesn't set exactly, but close enough for what I do. Within a thou or two, , ,

Oh yeah, watch where you locate the gears for the chuck. With 3 gears and 4 clamps, there's only a couple places where everything is accessible. There are also a couple of B&S true dividing heads at 40:1 but so big and heavy that they don't get used all that much. One has a 3" chuck and the other a 5". Both screw on bases.

.
 
I’m a gunsmith, but also do small jobs so the biggest thing I would hold is most likely a lathe spider or an action which is much smaller.
 
There are a bunch of eBay sellers offering what is called a B&S 0 5" Dividing Head, for about $256, free shipping. I bought one, it's really quite impressive. Comes with tailstock, dividing plates, etc. The 5" three jaw chuck is removable, has about 0.003-0.004 runout, and will work on my rotary table, too. I recommend this unit.

Don't fall for the $50 versions. :)
 
I got myself this one as a late Christmas present. I haven't done enough with it to be able to speak to its accuracy, but I'm happy with it. Everything functions smoothly, and it is well finished. It may be relatively cheap, but it doesn't feel cheap.

Precision Matthews BS 0 Dividing head
 
You could make yourself one. I made this one last weekend.
 

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Yea, geesh, no biggie. ^^ That shop-made one looks amazing! I also just bought a BS-0 (haven’t even opened the box, it just arrived).
 
You could make yourself one. I made this one last weekend.

That's awesome. If I may, what tool did you use to scribe the division lines? Reason I ask is I have a lathe that has divs on the tail stock arbor that were laser etched and after about a year they wore off.
 
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