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Dividing Head Chucks and Face Plates

sneebot

Stainless
Joined
May 14, 2001
Location
Massachusetts
I am curious about how the Deckel chucks and face plates attach to the their dividing heads. Can the chucks and face plates that are made for the Morse 4 spindle dividing heads be used on the IS0 40 spindle dividing heads?

On a similar note- I know that the FP1 and FP2 headstock dovetails (the ones that accept the heads) are of a slightly different size, what about interchangeability of heads from FP2s on up?

Thanks,
Matt
 
Hi sneebot,
The dividing heads, like the machines, came in both MT4 and ISO 40 tapers.
In the case of the MT4 head, it also was threaded to accept the proper chucks or face-plates. In the case of the ISO 40 heads, the chucks and face-plates sit on a tapered "seat" instead of threads and are secured via allen head bolts from the sides.
So the answer is no, chucks made for the MT4 head will not fit the 40 head, and visa versa.

As for the FP-1 / FP-2 head interchangeability, I'm not sure. I've been told that some FP-1 heads will fit an FP-2.
I've never had an older manual FP-2 to play with an make this experiment, but my later model FP-1 will take any FP-1 heads and my later model FP-2 NC isn't even close to being able to take FP-1 heads. Of course it's a different beast all together being an NC machine.
Perhaps an FP-2 owner would like to chime in on this? We could always take measurements and compare.

Good questions by the way.

Sean
 
Sean,
I've got an older FP2 and was told that the FP1 dovetails were slightly smaller so they would not accept FP2 heads, but was unsure about later models.

The dividing heads also have slightly different dovetails between the MK4 and ISO40 I think.

Matt
 
I had an FP1 over at my house a few months ago that came from a machine I sold to a friend. We were trying to determine if it would fit on my FP2. To be honest, I don't remember if we ever tried sliding it on because upon looking at it there was a consensus that the gears would not line up properly. Now, a high speed head which does not have any gear train linkage may well be a different story.

Alan
 
I don't know about an FP2, but my FP3 will interchange heads with an FP1. According to one of my manuals, the heads will interchange between the FP 1, 2 and 3. The geartrain on the FP-3 is arranged so the main head is driven off one gear, and there is a second gear that drives the FP1-style heads. Because the main head and ram on the FP-3 weigh so much, it's made so that it can be slid back and out of the way. I currently have a jig boring head on the FP-3, with the main vertical head behind it. Looks weird, but it works.

Alex.
 
Hi Alex...
In the case I'm talking about, we were actually looking at an FP1 vertical head fitting onto an FP2. Without removing a stop, I don't think it would work (memory only, so I might be wrong). Now, the vertical heads were tied to a model of machine. It could be that the boring head, etc, would work fine on all of the different models. I haven't had the opportunity to check that out.

As for sliding the head back. Deckel extended the way on the last generation of FP1 and FP2 as well. I suspect they got the idea from the FP3. Even if I had the way length on my FP2 (and FP1), I'd have to remove the aforementioned stop in order to push the head back.

As for the FP3 you have.... I thought you didn't like the more modern 'squared off' machines! Maybe we should trade! Just kidding... I like my FP2 a *whole* lot. ;)

Alan
 
I would not consider my FP-3 a modern squared-off machine (it's a 60's grey machine). It is a little squarer then the FP-2 but not as bad as the FP-4 of that vintage. Seems that in the 60's, they made the machines more square as they got bigger.

Alex.
 
My personal guess is that they made the heads more square as the likelyhood of using a hoist to change them increased.


Sean
 








 
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