Got started on a Harold Hall “Basic” dividing head project. This dividing head appears in the Workshop Practice Series #37 on Dividing by Mr Hall. It uses a “direct” method of indexing, namely change gears for a lathe. The change gears are from an Atlas 6”.
Mr Hall leaves the design somewhat open ended to suit your existing tooling. My dividing head will have a #2 Morse taper in the spindle for standard collets. If I ever need to mount a chuck, Sherline is the way to go I think. Sherline spindles are 3/4" x 16TPI. #2 Morse taper to 3/4" x 16TPI shanks are available.
I am following Mr Hall’s plan with only one deviation. Instead of locking the spindle with clamping splits sawed into the body, I plan to use the capture nut technique from George Thomas’ Universal Pillar Tool. My milling machine is not very rigid and probably won’t make those substantial cuts in the dividing head body. So, we will see how capture nut will work.
Here’s Mr Hall’s basic dividing head.

Here’s what’s been done so far.

Here’s the roughed out spindle. This week I’ll take it to a friend’s shop and have the #2 Morse reamed in.

The thrust collar on the spindle is pressed on. Mr Hall specifies carving the whole thing from solid. I did not want to waste all that material. The hole in the spindle is step bored to match the #2 Morse. Read somewhere that helps ensure the ream goes in straight.
Everything is coming along well so far.