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Vertex Dividing Head Use

T

Tecnico

(Dave)
Premium Member
Hi

The mill I'm getting came with a Vertex dividing head (BS-1) and I'm wondering if it would be good practice to use it like a rotary table. It doesn't have a chuck mounted but has provision for a threaded mount and I see plenty of photos with chucks mounted.

I guess my question comes down to whether I should be keeping my eye open for a rotary table or should the Vertex DH serve that purpose as well. It just looks a little light compared to a rotary table.

Thanks,

D:cool:
 
Fasten your seatbelt my friend, the tooling up is about to begin. :pYou might get away using as a light duty rotary table for a while, but, you'll want to keep your eyes open for a real rotary table and let the dividing head do what it does best, divide.
 
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LOL! I'm already eyeing a DRO and any other interesting things that fall into my lap or just have to be bought to accomplish something will follow!

6 point harness cinched up, it's going to be a fun ride!

D:cool:
 
140mower said:
I suggest in the beginning that you make some of your first projects be new tools for your new mill. This will both cut your tool up costs and give you some valuable experience and a better idea of what you want to purchase first....... Although, if a rotary table fell on your lap.... :p
Click to expand...

And so begins our common journey...... Making tools for our tools!

It's a journey well worth taking.
 
Having a rotary table fall into one's lap, especially one of the male persuasion, could be a very serious injury, lol . . .

That being said, it's amazing what sometimes comes up on Kijiji or Craigslist. I got my 8" rotary table, basically new old stock, for $200. Still had the price tag on it after it had sat in storage for almost 10 years (originally came from House of Tools, which had been defunct for 10 years at that point).

I do admit to being a bit of a tool nut though, like pretty much all of us. Some tools can be made at home, many of which are on my to-do list as well, and as has been said above it can both save a few bucks and bring a lot of satisfaction in using homemade tooling.

That being said, I only have a rotary table and now a tail stock for it, so can't speak to the rigidity of using a dividing head like a rotary table. Would be interesting to hear what others who have set one up as such would have to say about it.
 
Tecnico said:
Hi

The mill I'm getting came with a Vertex dividing head (BS-1) and I'm wondering if it would be good practice to use it like a rotary table. It doesn't have a chuck mounted but has provision for a threaded mount and I see plenty of photos with chucks mounted.

I guess my question comes down to whether I should be keeping my eye open for a rotary table or should the Vertex DH serve that purpose as well. It just looks a little light compared to a rotary table.

Thanks,

D:cool:
Click to expand...

Looks like nobody wants to take a shot at answering your question. Sometimes I think the more experienced and knowledgeable members would rather tell you why you are wrong. So I'll take a shot at it just to provoke them into setting me straight - to your benefit.

Both the rotary table and a spin Indexer are used to rotate parts for machining. Both will set very precise angles and can be indexed for machining.

A dividing head almost always comes with a chuck or jaws of some sort to hold work on their central axis. A table of sorts can be added but it's hard to make it very rigid. And it's usually hard to hold big parts - it's more suited to holding small parts and usually on the axis of the Indexer.

A rotary table almost never comes with a chuck but always comes with a table with T-slots on it. A rotary table easily accomodates big parts and its hard to use it for small parts.

A dividing head is usually set up with a horizontal axis of rotation but can be set up for vertical.

A rotary table is usually set up for a vertical axis of rotation but can be setup for horizontal. Some even come with a mounting plate for horizontal operation - mine did not.

In summary, a rotary table is best for big parts that are clamped to the T Slots of a table and rotated about the Z-Axis.

A dividing head is best for little parts held in a chuck and rotated about a horizontal axis (usually the X axis)

In other words, very similar and very different. The great news is that ya, you need a rotary table too.....
 
My rotary table has provisions for horizontal or vertical mounting and three dividing plates so it does double-duty as a dividing head.
 
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Well……it can be complicated

Rotary table: robust construction and is used to rotate parts during the milling or machining process. They can have provision for vertical or horizontal use, can accept chucks and some can be fitted with index plates for dividing up the milling process. Range in size and can get quite large diameters. Also tend to be a flat as possible to avoid taking up valuable tool height - “usually” will have a very accurate scale for angle adjustment.

Spindexer: or perhaps a collet chuck indexing head is more light duty and works smaller stock that can fit in the 5C collet range. Usually a horizontal affair and are not intended for super high tolerance work.

Indexing head: a really good one will have a face plate and chuck. Typically 4 to 8” and work horizontal But have provisions for rotating through angles so you can achieve vertical. Some have extra gearing and can be driven off the mill feed or separate motors for making helical cuts. They have indexing plates for precision rotation and may or may not have high precision angle divisions.

I have a rotary table modified for function as an indexing head. Would I want an indexing head - YES!! Dang auction ….. $10 bucks more - always …. Ugh - bitter …. LOL.

Get the biggest rotary table your lathe can handle and still have good tool height and a indexing head in a decent size for the work you want to do and then…….
 
Brent H said:
Well……it can be complicated

Rotary table: robust construction and is used to rotate parts during the milling or machining process. They can have provision for vertical or horizontal use, can accept chucks and some can be fitted with index plates for dividing up the milling process. Range in size and can get quite large diameters. Also tend to be a flat as possible to avoid taking up valuable tool height - “usually” will have a very accurate scale for angle adjustment.

Spindexer: or perhaps a collet chuck indexing head is more light duty and works smaller stock that can fit in the 5C collet range. Usually a horizontal affair and are not intended for super high tolerance work.

Indexing head: a really good one will have a face plate and chuck. Typically 4 to 8” and work horizontal But have provisions for rotating through angles so you can achieve vertical. Some have extra gearing and can be driven off the mill feed or separate motors for making helical cuts. They have indexing plates for precision rotation and may or may not have high precision angle divisions.

I have a rotary table modified for function as an indexing head. Would I want an indexing head - YES!! Dang auction ….. $10 bucks more - always …. Ugh - bitter …. LOL.

Get the biggest rotary table your lathe can handle and still have good tool height and a indexing head in a decent size for the work you want to do and then…….
Click to expand...

See that @Technico.... All ya gotta do is get a newbie to say what he knows and then the good stuff flies all over the joint. Those experienced old goats just need sumthin to shoot at!

Not only that but look what happens when poor @Brent H does double duty and puts it all out there but does a mind flip and puts the biggest table on his lathe. We ALL get to laugh! Bet even Brent is laughing!

Great stuff! You happy now? Or just broke......
 
This is just too good a thread! You guys are a riot, good to see nobody takes themselves too seriously. And, yes, great fun to see all of you try and come up with ways to break my piggy bank.

So, yes, pretty much as I figured, the dividing head is a more versatile/flexible and lighter rotary table with cross-over up to a certain physical/loading point. In my case the unit has some pretty beefy bearings on the shaft and it's threaded for a chuck so it's pretty robust.

In some ways I don't yet appreciate the dividing head because in some ways it's not much different from the big rotary table I use on the mill I've been borrowing. It has a big chuck on it and I used it on some slices of 6" bar stock to make some bolt pattern adapters. (See what you can do if you have toys!) Really, the ability to index defined steps is the big difference even if the RT can be adjusted down to minutes/seconds of rotation.

I see a rotary table in the future but for now the dividing head is going to earn its keep!

Hey @Dabbler I think I saw that there's actually one other member in the area, we haven't crossed paths yet though let alone borrowing tools.

@Darren It's always the way, after you've made something with what you have on hand you swear never again and go out and buy the right tool!

Lots of great comments here, thanks!

D:cool:
 
Tecnico said:
Really, the ability to index defined steps is the big difference even if the RT can be adjusted down to minutes/seconds of rotation.
Click to expand...

Actually, quite a few members have indexing wheels on their rotary tables. And many dividers don't, so even that isn't really a difference!
 
Just throwing this out there in case.....before I go and buy new or make. The chuck mounting plate of my DH seems to have gone missing along the way and I'm wondering if anyone out there has one gathering dust.

Lacking that, I'm seeing them being manufactured from cast iron vs steel and I'm wondering if that's a question of economy for mass production or there's a good reason for it to be CI?

My DH is a Vertex BS-1 with 1-1/2-8 thread.

Tks,

D:cool:
 
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