Rotary table questions

Tilting is something needed so seldom, you can always build yourself a steel wedge for that *one* job...

I bought a 6" that I never needed, traded it for a 10" that the other guy couldn't use, but I ended up with an 8" Vertex, which I love. Here's why:

1) it is the biggest I can lift myself without help
2) it is large enough to clamp to for most small jobs.
3) the slots let me use my standard 1/2" hold down set (using custom T nuts)
4) it stores in a smallish box out of the way...
5) very accurate
6) small enough to go on the table without removing the vice
7) the dial is large enough to read easily

Why not the 10"

1) too heavy
2) Not much work I do needs the extra space
3) for that odd job, I clamp a large fixture plate on my 8" and take light cuts
 
Aukai said:
This is the 4", and a Kurt 6" on a 9 x 32 table.
Click to expand...
yeah, huge difference. when I bought the 4" vise I had a 728VT ordered. over the months of waiting I decided I wanted a bigger heavier mill but already had the 4" vise by then. my questions aren't about the vise as its too late now (for now). my questions are about what size rotary table to get. so far I'm hearing 8".
 
woodchucker said:
is 932 a 9x32 table? I tried looking up the specs?
just remember that an 8" rotary is much heavier than a 6"
I would not consider a 10" for that mill. A knee mill, yes, but a bigger table than 9x32..
An 8" rotary table is not a small rotary? figure around 65 lbs. a 6" about 35 lbs.
Click to expand...
yes, 9x32. thanks.
 
Other than weight from my reading people are not wishing they went smaller, conversely I have seen I wish I went bigger on the RT. 8" seems to be the happy medium, that is just my take from reading posts....
 
If you have a way to lift a 10" (weighing over 175 lbs), then go for it, if it will fit your table - but there's no need for the 700$-2000$ uplift in price if most of your work fits in a 5" cube, or is able to be held down on an 8" table...
 
Aukai said:
This is the 4", and a Kurt 6" on a 9 x 32 table
Click to expand...
Interesting mounting of the 6" vice to the outer T slot. I also have a 9" table but the vice is mounted to the center slot. The tooling easily reaches the fixed jaw. If I need to get further out on a work piece I can extend the arm. Not saying one way is better than the other, just curious.
 
I had issues in the center slot, but do not remember, intuitively that is where I started, it looks like it would limit Y travel inward.
 
I have a 12” Bridgeport rotary table. It is certainly not too big for my 9”x42” table, and though it‘s heavy, I can lift it…I put it in the car trunk the other day to use in another shop. But mainly I keep it on a rolling cart, using the power Z to match cart and table height and slide it over. I admit I don’t use it much, but at times it’s about the only solution. It’s pretty quick to swap in and get centered…sometimes I remove the vise, but generally not necessary. It’s beautifully smooth and precise.

Get the biggest table you can find and afford.
 
Aukai said:
it looks like it would limit Y travel inward.
Click to expand...
My vice does overhang the back side of the table a little. I chose to mount my DRO scale on the back of the table so I could continue to use the X travel stops on the front edge of the table. The result is the vice over hang doesn't affect how far in I can move. It is really easy to extend the arm to reach further out on the work clamped in the vice & I gain that couple of inches before needing to extend by having the vice mounted to the center slot. I sometimes keep the rotary table mounted at the same time as the vice. When I do that I slide the vice down to more balance the weight of the two on the (49") table. When I've had the load on the table near the ends I've noticed a lot more drag on the X travel. Uneven wear, pry?
How many of you just leave the RT & vice mounted most of the time? I've got a cheap vice that I'll mount so I can hold long parts sticking out from the Kurt.
 
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