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Does anyone own a Van Norman 10” spiral index unit

DT38K

Aluminum
Joined
Oct 29, 2004
Location
Iowa USA
Gearing up to start selling again and have several Van Norman attachments
My question for today is on the 10” dividing head
On vintage machinery, there are several different books on pdf files
I went to the attachments and accessories for universal millers
I’m needing to know how many gears were supplied, I’m counting 11 in the photo
I have a stack zip tide together with 8 gears, each having a splined bore
I’m missing the side plate but everything else appears to be here
Not to say the plate is not here but I haven’t located it
Does anyone know the tooth counts, the pitch and pressure angle, the width, and dimensions of the spline
I am organizing all of my change gears, and wondered if these particular gears might possibly be for this head
I have attached a few pictures of the model 26 attachments and one of a spindle from another Van Norman but I don’t know what model this is from
Thanks for any information you might have
Randy
 

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I've got one (actually both that horizontal rotating model and also the more conventional VN vertical tilting model), but I got it 3rd or 4th hand and it came with no gear set. I'd recommend that you not spend a bunch of time and energy trying to replicate the OEM gear set, but rather first acquire any suitable gear set and build a banjo and adapter bushings to suit. The vast majority of dividing heads have a 40:1 wormwheel reduction, which means index wheels for different makes of dividing head are quite comparable. The lead on mill X-axis leadscrews is a bit more diverse, but really any reasonably complete set of change gears is going to work for you. It can be by-3's, by-4's, by-5's, neither the mill nor the dividing head cares. The general size range of the change gears is more of a practical concern, and all manner of banjo reach and geometry problems can be sorted with a few idler gears.

[Added in edit] Ah, now I see that you are just sorting things out prior to sale, rather than putting the dividing head back in use.
 
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I recently found a set for my Van Norman dividing head. From the lead-angle tables on Vintage Machinery, I worked out that there should be 11 gears: 24,24,28,32,40,48,56,64,72,86 and 100. Mine have a 7/8" center hole. Brown and Sharpe may have had the same gear ratios as would any dividing head with a 40:1 ratio equipped for a mill with similar table lead screw. I always assumed that the splined input on the dividing head fit into the side mounted gear box and not directly to the gears. Could be wrong there though.
 








 
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