Chinese Semi - Universal Dividing Head Part: 1 Strip it Down for Evaluation

So I bought a Chinese BS-0 Semi Universal Dividing Head from Ebay. The dividing head was a little over $360 Australian so I thought I would buy one for my small home machine shop and pull it apart for a look inside.
I made a 3 part series of what I found.
Part 1 is here: • Chinese Semi - Univers...
Part 2 is here : • Chinese Semi - Univers...
Part 3 is here: • Chinese Semi - Univers...
Hello Im Lance (aka Bundy Bear) and doing these videos is my hobby. I do own Queensland Tractor Spares in Australia where I sell parts and offer technical advise to customers.
Parts seen in our videos can be purchased from www.queenslandtractorspares.co...
We have a lot more than we can offer on our web site available to us and in our store. If you dont see what you would like please email [e-mail] and we will help where we can.
I do try and help with technical advise at [e-mail] if you have a question or are having trouble with your project.

[@user-wo7rz3yn4o]

I like your style man and your videos. Well done, keep up the good work. Your cav pump videos saved me big money and now I will feel a bit more confident in rolling the dice on ordering one of these. Thanks eh, from a Canadian!

[@BundyBearsShed]

Awesome, thank you!

[@kak_smog]

Very useful video! Thank you very much!

[@BundyBearsShed]

You are welcome!

[@BladesIIB]

Great video, I have a similar one of these coming this week and was not planning to strip it down but may consider it after watching your video. Thanks!

[@BundyBearsShed]

Probably worth the tidy up I believe.

[@AmateurRedneckWorkshop]

G'day Lance. A dividing head is a very nice tool to own. I got one to cut gears mostly.

[@BundyBearsShed]

It sure is

[@jeffanderson1653]

I'm in the process of tearing down my twin to yours. $219 with free shipping Ebay. I couldn't help myself. Subtle differences between the two. The worm bush is black and the shaft has spiral oil grooves. It came with a nice 3 jaw chuck that was a bear to get off. I tightened the jaws on a hex bolt, double nut and she came loose. This is a great reference video. Thanks.

[@BundyBearsShed]

Thanks.

[@dougrundell7483]

Lance, that reminded of watching Mr. Puzzle.

[@BundyBearsShed]

lol.

[@Euronasa]

Great video!

[@BundyBearsShed]

Thanks!

[@peterbennett4066]

I opened my chuck and head and found that the assemblers use cast iron dust as a lubricant

[@Murphyslawfarm]

G'day just found your channel and subscribed mate.

[@BundyBearsShed]

Thankyou and Welcome.

[@skorkmaz]

Great video. I have a BS-1 or 2. I don't know for sure. It's too big and heavy for my BF20L mill. Wish I get the one you have. Perfect size.

[@BundyBearsShed]

Good choice!

[@johnkinnane547]

G'day mate it's very good as the quality goes they are all C.N.N made it's the finishing of those parts, you couldn't go past on the price the only thing you have to remember is they are made in China but it's our steel good one Lance I'd use that Lovely red grease, I mean the bloody stuffs everywhere else so that should get a dollop too. John

[@BundyBearsShed]

I suppose it is our iron ore at least.

[@user-wo7rz3yn4o]

Well I went and bought one of these off of Ebay also and I am pleased with it so far. It looks well made to me and mine didn't appear to be very dirty, although I could not get the worm gear shaft out. Something was holding it in and I was afraid to use too much force. I guess I will leave well enough alone. I enjoy your videos.

[@BundyBearsShed]

Great to hear! Thankyou.

[@andychance9995]

i dont mean to be so offtopic but does someone know of a way to log back into an instagram account?? I was dumb lost my login password. I love any help you can give me!

[@leonardoronan1961]

@Andy Chance Instablaster ;)

[@andychance9995]

@Leonardo Ronan thanks for your reply. I got to the site through google and im trying it out now. Seems to take quite some time so I will get back to you later with my results.

[@andychance9995]

@Leonardo Ronan it worked and I finally got access to my account again. Im so happy! Thanks so much you saved my ass!

[@swanvalleymachineshop]

You can see it does pay to pull there stuff apart . The 2 little finger things are the sector arms ! Cheers .

[@BundyBearsShed]

Yep I couldnt think of their name on camera. lol .

[@troyam6607]

Glad i could teach the old dog a new trick haha

[@BundyBearsShed]

Not many days I dont learn something hopefully.

[@vicnewey3557]

good to see how it comes apart, problem for me is I can't get the chuck off as it's too tight, how can I do it without risk of damage to he locking pin or interior worm?? I see you answered a similar request further down but poster did not reply if he had got it off

[@BundyBearsShed]

A gentle tap wont damage anything.

[@bcbloc02]

Semi finished tooling. :-)

[@BundyBearsShed]

yeah surely it wouldnt be that hard to give it a bath,

[@chattonlad9382]

Looks like they are using old used engine oil for assembly Lance :-))

[@BundyBearsShed]

I would not be supprised

[@sblack48]

Is this a brown and sharp taper in the spindle? Do you know what the spindle thread is? I got myself an ultra sonic cleaner. Great for cleaning off all that grinding dust. Just plunk the bits it in with some mild degreaser and heat and vibration take all the crud away. Neat to see how this goes together.

[@BundyBearsShed]

It is a morse taper in the spindle, No2 from memory. I think I mention the thread in one of the videos but I cant remember the size now.

[@sblack48]

@@BundyBearsShed thanjs

[@sblack48]

I mean thanks!

[@eatonasher3398]

Can you make your videos allow us to change the speed? It might be on my end, but if not: Thank you!

[@BundyBearsShed]

I think that is a youtube function.

[@DavidHerscher]

Wow, i was genuinely surprised to see a tapered roller bearing in that spindle. I was expecting, i dunno a bronze bushing, maybe a normal balled bearing.

[@BundyBearsShed]

This is still a good tool that I enjoy using.

[@DavidHerscher]

@@BundyBearsShed indeed, thanks for sharing this deep dive with us. I've been eyeballing these Chinese models for a while and your vid gives me the confidence that they are surprisingly decent!

[@stevejones7580]

Had mine today Sliced my Hand lifting it out of the box very bad Burrs , my shaft wouldn't lock tightened the handle a little more snapped it , Striped it down the locking plate hole is to big it has been over bored for the shaft

[@BundyBearsShed]

Unreal, looks like luck of the draw as to if you get a good one or not.

[@HGNeese3rd1]

Lance, I'm from the states and i have tried to look up renegade tools on ebay with no result. Are these tools only available from down under?

[@BundyBearsShed]

Probably Australia only, Trade Tools is an Australian company and it is there home brand of tools. I quite like them.

[@StormbringerMM]

So, has it been worth it?

[@BundyBearsShed]

Yes I think so.

[@allbeit582]

Mine just arrived. Did you find the chuck was screwed on tight ? ... how did you get it off without doing damage to the worm ?

[@BundyBearsShed]

Mine wasnt too bad, I put the lock pin in and used a shifting spanner on the jaw gently.

[@vicnewey3557]

allbeit, did you manage to get it unscrewed ? I've tried all the usual tricks but it's on solid

[@vicnewey3557]

allbeit, did you manage to get it unscrewed ? I've tried all the usual tricks but it's on solid

[@allbeit582]

@@vicnewey3557 Yes I did..... Bolt the head down on your mill. Make a neat fitting pin to go through one of the holes in the indexing plate level with centre and put a piece of steel vertically between the pin and the table, this should protect the gears from damage. Put the largest hex key you've got (12mm or bigger) in the chuck and tap it with a hammer. The alternate is a pinch bar in open jaws.

[@vicnewey3557]

@@allbeit582 thanks for that advice, I did what you said and it finally worked, why it was so overtightened I don't know but I'm very sure it won't get stuck on again!

[@1891eric]

Is this a good quality dividing Head or not?

[@BundyBearsShed]

Seems to do the job well.

[@1891eric]

@@BundyBearsShed good. For bridgeport mill is better bs0 than bs1?

[@jix177]

I guess if it was more finessed you wouldn't have gotten it for $360 so not bad overall.

[@BundyBearsShed]

Probably correct. It is a good tool now I believe.

[@melgross]

‘Cheap shit.” Do you know how much a “good one” costs? About $1,500 to $2,000 in USA dollars. It’s amazing that the Chinese can make such equipment for what it’s sold at. Take it apart, clean it and put it back together after checking for burrs and mating surfaces that aren’t milled or ground smooth, and that’s about it. Don’t replace nylon with brass, without understanding why nylon was used. It’s not necessarily cheaper than brass, which isn’t the best bearing surface. It you want, you would need to go to bearing bronze. But there’s no reason to. They cut corners where they have to, to meet that ridiculously low price, but a lot of it is cosmetic. Some of the parts are injection molded zinc alloy. They’re then machined. That cuts costs considerably. The zinc is fine for a home shop, if the unit isn’t banged around too much, or used for work that’s too heavy. It won’t hold up in professional shop use. All oil and grease turns black after it’s used on cast iron and unhardened steel. Didn’t you get a manual with an exploded parts diagram? That should show how the parts go together. Where you have to be careful, is with Indian tooling. They’re not up to it yet.

[@BundyBearsShed]

This is working well and my shop is just for a hobby, the clean up was the main thing here, overall very happy with it.

[@Midlife-Adventures]

Looks like I should bite the bullet and strip mine down.

[@BundyBearsShed]

I think it would be a good idea.

[@skorkmaz]

By the way, be careful with that spindle collar. It is made out of cast iron and it is very fragile. I already broke mine.

[@BundyBearsShed]

Ok Ill keep that in mind.

[@kevinbrenton3036]

Friggin adds .

[@BundyBearsShed]

Not an add just what I found when I bought one, there was no free stuff or anything like it. You wouldnt buy it if you saw what I did to it.

[@nealblackburn8628]

are you sure it is made in china .....looks very similar to the product that has been made in taiwan for many years

[@BundyBearsShed]

At this price I was pretty sure but I threw the box away so I cant go back and check. Build quality seems to be good just the dirty assembly practices are often a mark of a Chinese machine tool.

[@markshort9098]

the Taiwanese and everyone else copied a hardinge design.. these things have been around forever

[@garyschultz253]

I pitcher $200 Bucks in the Trash Can, the following week.

[@BundyBearsShed]

Still going well not that it gets used a lot but it works fine when I need it.