Dividing Head and its Types

Dividing Head and its Types Points : What is Dividing Head and its Types, Types of Dividing Heads, Plain Dividing Head, Spiral Milling Head, Universal Spiral Index Head, Optical Dividing Head The dividing head is one of the most important milling machind aocessoris. It is also called an index head, is a device used to divide the periphery of a piece of work into any number of equal or unequal parts and to hold the work in the required position while the cuts are being made. The complete dividing head has two parts, the head and the tailstock or footstock. Together they are known as index centers.

Types of Dividing Heads 1. Plain Dividing Head Of the several types of index centers, the simplest is called the plain index or dividing head. The plain, or direct, index head is used for work of average accuracy. The index crank is connected directly to the headstock spindle and the crank and the spindle rotate as a unit. This is known as direct indexing, and the number of divisions is limited to the number of holes in the index plate. It is commonly used for fluting reamers, taps, milling square, hexagon’s etc. The maximum number possible is 24, 30, 36, 48 etc. 2. Spiral Milling Head This attachment is similar in all particulars to the gear-cutting attachment, except for the addition of the driving bracket by which the headstock is connected, by gearing, to the lead screw of the milling machine. This arrangement makes it possible to cut helical gears, flutes in drills and milling cutters. 3. Universal Spiral Index Head This head is also known as universal dividing head. This head is the one most likely to be found in the majority of machine shops. As its name implies, this type of index head can be used to execute all forms of indexing. It is not only versatile but accurate. It can be set at any angle, when cutting bevel gears etc. Work can be supported between centers or held in a chuck. It is possible, through a train of selected gears, to index and rotate work in conjunction with the movement of the table. 4 . Optical Dividing Head It is very precision instrument and is mostly used for measurement and inspection of precision angles, measurements or dimensions. It is possible to measure or read the angular dimensions up to seconds of a degree with the help of optical lenses set in the head.