Rotary table advice needed

[motormech1]

In my opinion there's a serious difference between the imported tables being offered by Shars and other online vendors, and older American iron. I have 2 rotary tables in the shop. The smaller one is an 8" Eron made in Japan in the 1980's. It uses bushings rather than ball bearings, and the backlash adjustment is chincy at best. The larger one is a12" Index (pre 1974 when they were bought out by wells). It weighs in at around 125 lbs, has real ball bearings, an excellent backlash adjustment feature, the ability to unlock the handwheel and manually position the table, and a fine adjustment that allows you to go down to minutes and seconds of a degree.

As for price I think you might want to negotiate on the Bridgeport. The asking price sounds high to me. I was able to pick up the Index table about 2 years ago for $100.00.

Wow, sounds like you got a steal of a deal.

 

[motormech1]

I just wanted you to be sure it wasn't too big, but it sounds like you're going in with your eyes wide open.
The other side of the coin is the battle to find ways to bolt things down to the rotary table.
So a bigger table is sometimes nicer.

If your machine (and you!) can handle it, then go for it!

Also poke around here for lifting suggestions; engine hoists, cranes, adjustable height movable tables, etc.
Rule #1 - Don't get hurt!

Brian

I appreciate the input Brian! I’m mostly concerned with the real estate on the mill that the base takes up and whether or not it would be in the way when left bolted down next to the vise. I thought maybe a 10” would be a good compromise but I haven’t seen any used U.S. made 10 incher’s.

 

[motormech1]

I have a 12” Bridgeport Rotary table. It’s very well built, and it’s hard to imagine being unhappy with this table, other than it is fairly heavy to manipulate. I paid $500 10 years ago.

Thanks for the feedback! Sounds like I’m in the ball park.

 

[motormech1]

I went ahead and reached out to the seller of the Bridgeport. We’ll see…

 

[talvare]

One recommendation I would make is buying a RT that can be used both horizontally and vertically. As others here have said, I would look for a good American or European RT vs the units offered by folks like Shars. A few years ago I purchased a very nice 10" Walter on eBay for $400 including shipping. So, there are nice ones out there on the used market and I actually believe that they are becoming more difficult for folks to sell because of the prevalence of CNC in the commercial shops.
Ted

 

[Winegrower]

My Bridgeport came with a big factory angle bracket for vertical mounting. I’ve never found a need.

 

[motormech1]

One recommendation I would make is buying a RT that can be used both horizontally and vertically. As others here have said, I would look for a good American or European RT vs the units offered by folks like Shars. A few years ago I purchased a very nice 10" Walter on eBay for $400 including shipping. So, there are nice ones out there on the used market and I actually believe that they are becoming more difficult for folks to sell because of the prevalence of CNC in the commercial shops.
Ted

Thanks Ted. The one I’m looking at doesn’t flip on it’s side. Would you consider that a deal breaker?

My Bridgeport came with a big factory angle bracket for vertical mounting. I’ve never found a need.

Good point. Wonder how much an angle plate big enough would cost? Or just wait for a RT that does both. Hmm.

 

[pontiac428]

The one I’m looking at doesn’t flip on it’s side. Would you consider that a deal breaker?

Definitely not a deal breaker. The deal is, you can get a horizontal RT and a dividing head for vertical, then you have both capabilities. Dividing is the best way to go for patterns, so consider that too.

 

[rabler]

On a typical sized knee mill, my feeling is the utility of a horizontal/vertical is limited to about a 8" or smaller rotary table. For 10"/12", my gut is that you're going to find that it is awfully clumsy and unstable to deal with a 100+ lb table standing on end. Not to mention that it is probably getting close to not clearing the quill even with the knee fully lowered. YMMV

I have an import 8" that goes h/v. And second hand 12" and 16" (Van Norman and K&T).

 

[pontiac428]

Not to mention the potential for tolerance stacking and unusual side loads etc. I've never seen a flip-flop 90 degree table bigger than 8", and now that I think about it, unless Vertex somehow doesn't count, I've never seen any non-Chinese RTs that do 90 degree fixturing. Horizontal is what rotary tables do, I tend to think of 90 degree ops as dividing or 5th axis ops. Somehow, it works differently in my mind. I suspect I must be on to something, or else every RT would have 90-degree faces to bolt down. The status quo on the used market seems to support this.