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Dividing head de-crustification

trlvn

trlvn

Ultra Member
So the auction fever struck (again) and I found myself the owner of rusty, crusty, frozen, seized and generally maltreated Brown & Sharpe-style dividing head. The auction pictures looked rough; it looked a lot worse when I got up into the light of day. BTW, these things are astonishingly heavy!

1 before IMG_5083.jpg


The good news was that the handle would turn the faceplate! The bad news was that the faceplate was oriented facing (almost) straight up. It needs to be in the horizontal position to disassemble the spindle. But it was firmly rusted in that orientation.

The further bad news was that the faceplate was seriously stuck on the threaded spindle.

So I started applying penetrating oil. Daily. Again. And again. (I also had a nasty chest cold and wasn't up for doing much else.) I tapped it a bit and applied a little heat but nothing was working and over 2 weeks had now passed. I decided to get a little more serious.

[Cont.]

Craig
 
I wanted to bolt a bar to the faceplate to give me more leverage. Remember that the faceplate is not parallel to the base as the spindle was left at a weird angle. Then I remembered that my drill press table can rotate! So I drilled and tapped a couple of holes in the faceplate via the drill press.

5 drill tap faceplate IMG_5125.jpg


After drilling mating holes in a piece of steel bar, I used T-nuts to secure the dividing head to the table of my mill-drill and bolted the bar to the dividing head. (Mill table was locked in both X & Y.) No go to begin with but after heating the faceplate hub (under the faceplate & above the 24-hole direct indexing plate) it suddenly came free!!!

10 free faceplate IMG_5130.jpg


[Cont.]
 
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Now to get the body to rotate. This had also been soaked in penetrating oil for 2+ weeks. With the faceplate out of the way, I took it up to the garage to the arbour press. (Did I mention that it is bloody heavy? Well, it is!) And it moved! Surprisingly little drama!

15 rotate body IMG_5131.jpg


[Cont.]
 
Below is pretty much the current state. I'm following an old Keith Rucker (Vintage Machinery) Youtube video It has helped a lot--there are several steps that need to be done in the correct order to get this thing apart.

20 ready to clean IMG_5136.jpg


So far, I've found little damage. Just need to clean a bunch of rust, chips and old tar-like goo. A few pieices are in Rust911 overnight (like Evaporust).

One thing I want to do, though, is clean the Morse taper 3 socket in the main spindle. I'm not sure if there is an easy way to do this? Suggestions?

Craig
 
Martin w said:
Looks great! What a beauty.
Click to expand...
Thanks, it is getting there. A lot of people want to make an old tool showroom-shiny. Personally, I like an old tool that looks like it has done work but has been used with care. Some discolouration and a few dingle-berries are perfectly fine with me. That said, I am thinking about putting some paint on the surfaces that mostly hidden. OTOH, I really hate painting. We shall see... ;)

Craig
 
As you might recall, I hate painting too. But I hate corrosion just as much. I'd love to find a light grease or spray lubricant that could be applied to internal or external parts that would last 20 years or so without becoming a problem of its own.
 
BTW, I owe a public "Thank You" to @CWret . After I got the faceplate off, the simple indexing (24 hole) plate was giving me grief. The three slotted screws did not want to budge. Cwret loaned me his manual impact driver (a vintage tool in its own right!) which had those screws dancing to my drummer in just seconds.

Craig
(Afterwards, I found out that nearly every guy I know has a manual impact driver. I feel very inadequate. But I'm going to get a BIG one. With shiny chrome...no, SATIN CHROME. And so big I can hit it with a sledge hammer! Yeah!! ;) )
 
trlvn said:
One thing I want to do, though, is clean the Morse taper 3 socket in the main spindle. I'm not sure if there is an easy way to do this? Suggestions?

Craig
Click to expand...
Why not use a Morse taper reamer, if there are any scoring or boinks inside, it will skim them out with the rust
 
Is that a handsaw sharpening vice by your drill press? I had a fixture that bolted to my DoAll bandsaw table for sharpening handsaws. Just gave me a long straight surface to clamp to for filing.Now that I down sized my bandsaw it looks like I need to figure something else out.
 
Very worthwhile project and it apears to be going well

One suggestion that I have used on an old gun or two that came to me in a very rusted condition, as you say I also dont like the "new Look" to something that has a story to tell and have used the very super finest steel wool & WD-40 sprayed on to gently smooth the rough crust off....cheap and effective.
 
trlvn said:
Afterwards, I found out that nearly every guy I know has a manual impact driver.
Click to expand...
Fasteners have come a long way.
Torx and allen head cap screws are more common now and reduced the need for an impact driver. From my experience (50+ years ago), for any motorcycle repairs you needed an impact driver.

It appears that your dividing head project is going to have a happy ending. Well done!
 
trlvn said:
(Afterwards, I found out that nearly every guy I know has a manual impact driver. I feel very inadequate. But I'm going to get a BIG one. With shiny chrome...no, SATIN CHROME. And so big I can hit it with a sledge hammer! Yeah!! ;) )
Click to expand...

Count me among those who have one. Mine is prolly 50 years old. Well before they came in Chrome. Besides, if it did come in Chrome that would probably have fallen off 30 years ago.

Three tips for you.

1. Load it up against the opening direction before you hammer it. They don't work nearly as well if you don't.

2. Make sure you get one that comes with the 1/4 or 3/8 or 1/2 inch impact rated drive so you can use it with seized nuts too. Mine is 1/2 inch and the hex adapter for it is 5/16 not 1/4.

3. Buy a set of JIS (Japanese Industry Standard) impact bits for it. They are much better at conforming to Philips Head Screws and don't deform the screw as easily. Some brake disk retension screws (and many others) are actually JIS but you would never know looking at them. A test fit with the driver tip almost always tells the tale. The fit difference is amazing and more importantly, it works better too!

Mine is a big one with a flange like this one. Safer for one eyed guys with no depth perception....


Here is a set of JIS impact bits:


I'm not sure the bits I highlighted actually fit that driver. Mine isn't available anymore. So I just picked ones that look similar. It might be best to get the shiny (LOL!) driver of your choice first and then get some impact rated JIS bits for it that fit it.
 
Martin w said:
Is that a handsaw sharpening vice by your drill press? I had a fixture that bolted to my DoAll bandsaw table for sharpening handsaws. Just gave me a long straight surface to clamp to for filing.Now that I down sized my bandsaw it looks like I need to figure something else out.
Click to expand...
It is! Another sickness of mine is antique hand woodworking tools. ;)

Craig
 
historicalarms said:
Very worthwhile project and it apears to be going well

One suggestion that I have used on an old gun or two that came to me in a very rusted condition, as you say I also dont like the "new Look" to something that has a story to tell and have used the very super finest steel wool & WD-40 sprayed on to gently smooth the rough crust off....cheap and effective.
Click to expand...
A man after my own heart! I have a box of 0000 steel wool that I've been working through for probably 35 years. A little goes a long way. Already been using it on this project.

Craig
 
Susquatch said:
https://a.co/d/2acsc6h
Here is a set of JIS impact bits:

https://a.co/d/7imKHaR
I'm not sure the bits I highlighted actually fit that driver. Mine isn't available anymore. So I just picked ones that look similar. It might be best to get the shiny (LOL!) driver of your choice first and then get some impact rated JIS bits for it that fit it.
Click to expand...
Kidding aside, the molded plastic handle is probably a better idea than chrome, grip-wise. From some limited research, it seems that most of them use 5/16" impact bits. Thanks for the tip about JIS.

BTW, the first driver you linked to is pretty inexpensive. Weirdly, they are charging less for the 1/2" size than the 3/8 or 1/4" sizes?! KBC has a Klein driver for $115!

Hey, wait a minute. Isn't there a quasi-holiday coming next Sunday... ;)

Craig
 
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