Dividing Head for a Tom Senior Light Vertical

[Rannsachair]

“Swithering”?

Dictionary

Definitions from Oxford Languages ·

swither
/ˈswɪðə/

SCOTTISH
verb
gerund or present participle: swithering

1. be uncertain as to which course of action to choose.

 

[fizzy]

Just keep your eye on Ebay - bargains do turn up sometimes.
I picked up my 6" Cincinnati in good condition for £90. The badge was missing - didn't know it was a Cincinnati until after I had bought it.
Thing is huge though.
Smaller ones go for better money but you can still get an Elliott or similar for less than £200.
Often without tail stocks but any universal one will do if the centre height is the same.

 

[fizzy]

DIVIDING HEAD 4 1/2IN ENGINEERS TOOLING MILLING MACHINE MILLING CUTTERS END MILL

DIVIDING HEAD 4 1/2IN ENGINEERS TOOLING MILLING MACHINE MILLING CUTTERS END MILL in Business, Office & Industrial, CNC, Metalworking & Manufacturing, Metalworking Equipment, Machining Centers & Milling Machines | eBay

www.ebay.co.uk

This looks pretty good. Says buyer to collect but usually ways around that. We could ship it for you as a small crate rather than a pallet if he or someone on the forum can help you out.

 

[citizen kane]

These are a few pics of dividing heads on a Tom Senior,

Both are nominally the same size with 4" chucks, the Hofmann has the advantage of a higher center height so I can bolt of a 6" chuck, the Aciera has the advantage of being able to accommodate collets in the spindle, both are a good size for the Tom Senior.

 

[Richiew]

I've no idea about the run out on the chuck. I should check and find out. It was fine for my purposes. Gears for a set of slip rolls, so precision was not required.

I could swap the 3 jaw out for a four jaw on my Southbend I think. The thread is the same. I would have to check the register but they are likely to be the same too.

 

[brewdexta]

Here's mine, also a Hofmann. I haven't tried it in anger on the Tom Senior LV or M1 yet. Could do with a bit of TLC.

 

[Seadog]

I would be using a 4 jaw independent chuck for gear cutting.

I used a collet chuck.

 

[Rannsachair]

Ended up winning what looks a good Vertex HV-6 of ebay, not arrived yet, just need to buy a chuck to suit.

I think a 125mm (5") chuck will suit.

 

[Agroshield]

It looks like the division tables have been prepared by the previous owner. I believe the ones in the official manual contain some errors so at the very least put a post it note inside the manual to alert you to this possibility.

If you want to post legible pictures of the tables, we can review them and then you can obliterate any errors before you are caught out.

One thing to check on the table is whether the T-slots line up with a whole number on the degree scale (i.e. degrees reading zero, T-slot either north-south or east-west). Mine did not and I had to make a new brass zero-indicator to correct.

Before you buy a chuck, consider the method of attachment to the table - front-mountable three jaws are difficult because of the scroll. A 5" chuck on a 6" table only gives you 1/2" around the perimeter for a toe or pin clamp, so 4" might be better in that respect. If you use a sub-plate, the larger the PCD of the holes in the back of the chuck (to attach it to the sub-plate), the more difficult it becomes to find space to attach the sub-plate to the table.

A 2 MT to parallel shaft (e.g. 2MT test bar) is helpful to align the chuck concentric with the table.

 

[Seadog]

A nice table, and compete too. I have the same setup and it's worked well for me. I used a 2MT to Boxford adaptor, but you do lose about 3/4" height that way.

The wavy washer for the sector arms didn't work very well for me. I came up with a completely over- designed remedy for that



I stripped and cleaned it as well. There was, I seem to recall, some traces of casting sand inside. Mine wasn't new, but had sat in someone's shed for a few years with minimal or no work. Also played around with an O arrangement to seal the shaft.

 

[Rannsachair]

A nice table, and compete too. I have the same setup and it's worked well for me. I used a 2MT to Boxford adaptor, but you do lose about 3/4" height that way.

The wavy washer for the sector arms didn't work very well for me. I came up with a completely over- designed remedy for that

View attachment 339024View attachment 339025View attachment 339026

I stripped and cleaned it as well. There was, I seem to recall, some traces of casting sand inside. Mine wasn't new, but had sat in someone's shed for a few years with minimal or no work. Also played around with an O arrangement to seal the shaft.

Thanks for that Graham, I suspect I will do similar.

 

[Rannsachair]

It will likely be better if the tag indicates made in Taiwan rather than China. They are the older ones.

Both mine were made in Taiwan, one with three T-slots and the other with four.

I still don’t use mine for heavy circular milling duties - they are not as robust as some much older European variants - so I do most machining by plunge cuts whenever possible.

Do not trust the table of settings. Some contained the odd fault - and it would likely be something important when you eventually find out! I calculate all my increments - it is a mathematical doddle, once you realise how easy it is.

I have fitted one of mine to a base plate because they don‘t fit my table slot-spacing.

It is labelled made in Taiwan, so I may be lucky.

 

[addjunkie]

Think Ive only used mine twice, as I bought a 10 inch one for doing yokes and things, far more space to get holding bolts etc in. But its blooming heavy.

 

[RobCox]

I think a 125mm (5") chuck will suit.

I've got a 6 inch Vertex too and put a 5inch chuck on it. Can be done, but it's tight. I'll take a pic later of what I did.

 

[RichardM]

3 jaw - Just put a front mounting chuck on, eg:

http://www.rotagriponline.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypagerotagrip.tpl&product_id=128&category_id=235&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=29&redirected=1&Itemid=29

4 jaw will need a plate making most likely.

 

[Rannsachair]

3 jaw - Just put a front mounting chuck on, eg:

http://www.rotagriponline.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypagerotagrip.tpl&product_id=128&category_id=235&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=29&redirected=1&Itemid=29

4 jaw will need a plate making most likely.

Funny, I was looking at http://www.rotagriponline.com/index...tegory_id=235&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=29

 

[RobCox]

That 5" front mounting 3 jaw from rotagrip would have been too spendy for me. I settled for a rear mounting one from Arceurotrade, less than £50, prob not as accurate, but for holding and rotating items on the shaper for cutting internal splines, good enough for me. This is the chuck and the backplate that fits on my 6" vertex rotab:

The hole in the centre of the backing plate fits a pin that is a snug fit in the rotab centre hole, makes lining it up quicker if precision isn't needed.

 

[RichardM]

I'd just go for a 4 jaw and spend a couple of minutes dialing it in.
ER collet chuck in the MT centre for smaller stuff

 

[Agroshield]

ER collet chuck in the MT centre for smaller stuff

Or ER chuck bolted directly to the RT. More rigid, shorter and for stuff up to the diameter of the small end of the MT considerably deeper. With an ER on a Morse shank, you need two spanners every time you open or close it as the grip of the taper is not enough to resist the torque needed on the ER nut. The only time I'd use a MT shank on the RT is when it is vertical as in Seadog's picture. It is also risky just relying on the taper to resist the cutting forces.

See: https://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue/Collets/ER-Lathe-Collet-Chucks/ER40-Lathe-Collet-Chucks

Very cool would be a bolt-on adaptor to D1-4 so he can transfer his lathe chucks. Short of making your own, a spindle out of a scrapped machine can provide this.

Just a thought on Rob's point form an earlier post, "The hole in the centre of the backing plate fits a pin that is a snug fit in the rotab centre hole, makes lining it up quicker if precision isn't needed." It is advisable to put a female thread into the pin so that you can extract it once you have done the lining up. It gets tedious when you align the chuck with the pin, bolt the chuck down, put the stock in, realise the pin is stopping the stock going down far enough and have no other means to pull the pin out other than unbolting the chuck...

 

[Rannsachair]

The Vertex arrived today, seems perfect:

Made in Taiwan ( thought that used to be a bad thing!)

Someone has 2 laminated copies of:

Does that look right @Agroshield ?

Fits on the bed nicely: