Getting rid of my rotary table and dividing head

I wouldn't get rid of the RT or dividing head, there are things that those will be better for, particularly irregularly shaped items that need to be clamped to the RT T slots, not held in a chuck.

I do not really work on such things, or I can make some adapter plate (backplate).

Alrighty, if you want to sell your toys... perhaps this is why I'm poor since I keep my toys...

I have "too many toys"...

...

There ain't no such thing. I think that he who dies with the most toys wins.

Seriously, that unit has value. Sell it. Keep your RT and dividing head. I set up a small servo with timing pulley that will bolt right up to either unit with just a belt and pulley on that unit. Then you got all sort of capabiltiy for cheap. PC controls don't need the brain box that comes on the HAAS unit.

Karl

Seconded. A chunk of the cost of the indexer is the sequencing controller that allows it to interface with just a trigger output from an older CNC controller to step it to the next position in it's programmed sequence. Iggy can just put a real servo and drive on either his RT or dividing head and control it from his new EMC2 control as a full 4th axis, not just an indexer.

As for the "too many toys", that is just the justification to move to a nice rural location with elbow room and a huge separate shop building.

But, guys, I could as well control the Haas 5C unit with EMC2, right? It is just a stepper motor with an Amphenol plug?

No, it is a stepper motor connected to a combination drive and sequencer. You could eliminate the drive and sequencer and put a new stepper drive on it and then control it from EMC2. I'm not sure if EMC2 will support both steppers and servos in the same configuration though, so you might need to replace everything with a new servo and servo drive. As-is, it is an indexer only, and not a full 4th axis. You can trigger it to the next step in the sequence with a GPO bit, but not command a specific position, feed rate etc. like a full 4th axis.

Which is what I was trying to say, in a clumsy way. I would take the drive completely out of the picture.

I understand, yes. I hope that EMC2 can control both servos (in the Interact II) and steppers in the same setup.

Even if I fail at the Interact II conversion, completely, and just part it out, this indexer would be super useful with the manual Bridgeport.

How is the indexer more useful than a rotary table or dividing head on a manual machine? A few cranks on the RT or DH does exactly the same thing as a few button presses on the indexer.

If the number of points that I need has no common denominator with the number of holes in a circle on dividing head, multiplied by 40, I am pretty screwed. Not so with the indexer.

They have multiple circles of holes and multiple plates for a reason. I can't see any reasonable application the DH wouldn't work for, and the RT is easily set to any degree just like the indexer.

Iggy, you don't use the hole plate on a DH when in CNC mode. You can move any amount you want, even while the other axis are moving. You can even set your DH at the helix angle and hob gears with a blank in the DH and a hob in the spindle., both moving in coordinated motion. The RT is handy for a huge part bolted to a face plate. Again, you can do any full 4rth axis work you can dream up.

Now, this route is not for a high production shop. But you can make some wonderfully complex parts with just these tools.

Karl

Karl, as it happens, I already sold both the dividing head as well as the rotary table, though technically they are still at my place. In any case, I have a chuck for this indexer, so I can hold decent sized parts. I hope that ine day I could make a stepper control for it, and will not deal with backlash, as on a rotary table.

If I ever need a rotary table, every third bankrupt mold shop has a Troyke DMT-15, and with a bit of patience I can get one inexpensively again.

That's good.

This one cost me $105, IIRC.