School me on Rotary Tables

Varga Knives

Varga Knives

Joined
Aug 12, 2006
Messages
1,302
Hey guys!

Of course money's always an issue but I really think my next "big" purchase will be a rotary table and I need some input. The rotab will be used on a HF mini mill but I not adverse to a mill upgrade in the next year or two.

My main use will be for folder jobs like cutting a stop pin arc and secondary purposes like machining round parts, like pivot collars. Also, I'd like to incorporate curved patters into Ti scales so a tilting feature would be a plus.

I'm thinking in the 4"-6" range. Any brands to look for or avoid? Mounting options? How about features? Are dividing plates necessary for my purposes? Is a 2 MT center hole standard for adding a lathe chuck? Is there a downside to a tilting table?

I know that's a lot of questions but you get the idea. Please let me know your thoughts. Oh, I'd like to keep it under $300.

Thanks!
Mark
 
Hope you don't mind if I pile on another question on this Mark.
Can this be used to "turn" round pins out of ivory or other softer materials, like you would use a lathe... ?
 
Looking forward to what people have to say since it is also something I'd like to purchase in the future. Thanks for asking.
 
Check out the 4" precision rotary table at littlemachineshop.com. It comes in just under your budget and should work for you.

The nice thing about your HF mill if its the Sieg X2 clone is your R8 tooling will be useable if you upgrade, as will your vices, rotary tables, etc.
 
Brock47 said:
Hope you don't mind if I pile on another question on this Mark.
Can this be used to "turn" round pins out of ivory or other softer materials, like you would use a lathe... ?
Click to expand...

For the price of a good rotary table you could get a lathe here in SoCal. Easily. Just thought I would mention it.

I don't think soft material would hold up to being side milled on a rotary table.
 
ron_m80 said:
For the price of a good rotary table you could get a lathe here in SoCal. Easily. Just thought I would mention it.

I don't think soft material would hold up to being side milled on a rotary table.
Click to expand...

I've been debating about this too.
 
I don't know much about the smaller units. I use a 6" Vertex super spacer. It is a rotab with an indexing detent and masking plates. Mine does not tilt but can mount horizontal or vertical. I have a couple fixtures that I mount to a faceplate but mostly I use a 3-jaw chuck mounted on it. Jerry Moen loaned me his 4" rotab and I found I could mount it in my vise at pretty much any angle. It had quite a bit more backlash than my Vertex. Don't remember what brand it was but it still worked ok.

Bob
 
Brock47 said:
Hope you don't mind if I pile on another question on this Mark.
Can this be used to "turn" round pins out of ivory or other softer materials, like you would use a lathe... ?
Click to expand...


you can ''turn'' small items in your mill with a lathe tool clamped in the vise.
 
no problem, just make sure your tool's cutting edge is on center and spin that soft stuff super fast. also, remember for every thou you dial on x you'll take 2 off the diameter of your part. set your stop on z to avoid hitting your chuck or collet.
 
I have the cheap 6 inch rotary table from grizzly and it's been working well for me for the last 8 months. I use it to cut stop pin tracks and pivot inlays. I highly suggest a co-axial indicator for centering up your table. I got one from enco for less than $100 and it makes set up a breeze.
 
I use a small rotary table for relieving liners, and it works "OK". I bought the smallest, cheapest one that I could find on eBay for about $40 or $45 if I recall. I used the t-slot nuts and bolts that came with it to mount a sacrificial piece of micarta on the table, that I mounted some studs in for clamping my liners to the table. I also faced the macarta with a small endmill by rotating the table 360 degrees at a time, and gradually going outside to inside, just to make sure everything was relatively flat in reference to my end mill..

Now, all that said, most simple folder related jobs can be done just as easily (and possibly more accurately) by clamping a simple flat block (aka pallet) with a pivot in your vise. You can then make another "clamping plate" (flat and trued of course) to ride in this pivot, and rotate things by hand. Stop pins can be put in your pivot block to keep from over rotating if the end mill gets grabby.

If you're set on a rotary table, however, buy the biggest and best you can afford. The cheaper sub $100 chinese tables aren't going to be super accurate (although they'll probably be good enough for basic tasks like liner relieving, and maybe cutting stop pin channels), and they'll be kind of rough to use. I think I saw one website where a guy disassembled his chinese RT to lap it and clean everything up and make it more accurate, but I don't know how big of a return you get on that much work. The cheaper tables usually have a lot of slop/run out in them, and the handles are kind of a pain to work back and forth.

Keep an eye on your local craigslist and you might find a good deal on one.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top