BSO Dividing head

Hi all, I eventually got round to buying a dividing head. Today I stripped it down and gave it a clean up and renewed the grease. Got it mounted on the Tom Senior mill to give it an experimental turn over. All OK other than the very nasty spring plate that keeps the "fingers" under tension. After several rotations of the handle the cheap and nasty spring plate ends up on the floor. Does anybody know of a modification to resolve this issue ?

Make a better one?

..the 'spring' action only has to retain it in the groove, so it isn't subject to rapid / repeated flexure..

..off the top of my head and without thinking to much about it, if I had to make one I might spend a couple of hours contemplating the concave base of an empty aerosol can..?

Is there any possiblilty it has been installed incorrectly?

Is there a way of installing it so the normal direction of rotation pushes it into its groove rather than tries to set it free from the groove (on a similar engineering principle to having left hand threads on one side of your knock off wheels)?

I gave mine a bit of a trim with a Dremel to make it slide on better. I think I gave it a couple of smacks with a hammer too, to flatten it out a bit.

Really the best thing to do is make a better one as Diogenesll suggested. Maybe I'll get around to it one day.

If it's anything like mine, a clone so possibly differing in detail, the spring is awkward to fit but does stay in place.

Without traipsing back down the garden to examine it in detail it is retained at least as DC31k suggests, when rotating the handle in the usual clockwise direction.

I think it has some sort of positive engagement; and I have certainly not needed to crush it or cut bits off it; let alone try to make a "better" one. You'd need suitable spring material anyway, not an aerosol can base!

I think your first course of action is to ensure it is the right way round, engaged properly, and you turn the handle in a consistent direction, normally clockwise.