Simple Dividing Head

[old_toolmaker]

I had a project a while ago where I needed to drill several hole circles in a dividing plate having accurately spaced holes. Having no means of accurately dividing a circle I set about building this Simple Dividing Head. I got my inspiration from an article in Home Shop Machinist magazine authored by Ted Hansen. I took the liberty to redesign it to suit my own needs. It is basically a block of 4140 P.H. steel with a few strategically placed holes. It uses mini lathe change gears as dividing plates and it has interchangeable mandrels so suit various applications. One mandrels is threaded M12x1 to accept the spindle accessories from my Unimat DB200 lathe. It is built to be able to be used on my mini lathe cross slide and has its mandrel center line on center with the lathe spindle. The mandrel is locked by means of a split cotter and double ball handle. Mandrels can be switched out and mounted in the lathe for further machining without disturbing the location of the part.