So I'm in the middle of a big (tool acquisition disorder assisted) buying spree for my mill and I have come across the array of cheap import tilting tables on amazon and ebay (take your pick, - the one I'm especially interested in is a BesEquip 7"x10" table for $140). I definitely want its capability, I'm not for the foreseeable future going to be cutting angled slots for helicopter parts, and I am also not (for the foreseeable future) interested in paying $600-3000 dollars for a professional version. I, also, don't have much experience at all with angled milling and so I just figured that I throw the question out there:
Would you stay away from cheap tilting tables all together (like, is there any concern that they might not even solidly hold a tilt)? Or, is there any hope that, as long as I'm not going for ultra precision (I realize that the bottom face is probably not particularly square, the top bed probably isn't either, nor do I have much hope in being able to rely on the protractor scale), that this will be worth anything more than its weight in hand-me-down socks? Are it's inherent faults the kind of thing that can be remedied in the home shop? Alternatively, would you recommend another approach to this - i.e - learn to play with sine bars and start to get good at building specialized jigs or, maybe, just make my own tilting plate?
I'm sure there's no way of knowing without actually seeing it in person but (to give away my personal inclination), at that price, the curiosity alone is threatening to get the better of me.
Just wanted to see if anybody had any opinions before I address that burning hole in my pocket.
Would you stay away from cheap tilting tables all together (like, is there any concern that they might not even solidly hold a tilt)? Or, is there any hope that, as long as I'm not going for ultra precision (I realize that the bottom face is probably not particularly square, the top bed probably isn't either, nor do I have much hope in being able to rely on the protractor scale), that this will be worth anything more than its weight in hand-me-down socks? Are it's inherent faults the kind of thing that can be remedied in the home shop? Alternatively, would you recommend another approach to this - i.e - learn to play with sine bars and start to get good at building specialized jigs or, maybe, just make my own tilting plate?
I'm sure there's no way of knowing without actually seeing it in person but (to give away my personal inclination), at that price, the curiosity alone is threatening to get the better of me.
Just wanted to see if anybody had any opinions before I address that burning hole in my pocket.
