rotary table

I bought a 6inch one from Arceurotrade which is very nice. They are different design and build to the ones you normally see around the bazaars. Can't help on tilting, not come across a need yet, but the mandatory accessory for me would be a backplate so that you can mount a lathe chuck on the table. (So far, I haven't used the table without it, but the next job is mounted directly on the table)

Steve

Thanks Steve. Pete

I bought a 6" Rotary table with option bits to make it into a Dividing head, I then bought of EBay a sine table which gives me the tilt.

Thanks Steve. Pete

I too have been looking at the Chronos tables and have a few questions (sorry if they are daft):

They have a "SHOBHA 6" ROTARY TABLE SET C/W PLATES ETC" on offer for

139 inc VAT and delivery and it comes with 3 x dividing plates. This sounds reasonable. The face plate has T slots for mounting things. Some dividing heads I have seen are fitted with a mandrel that that the same thread as the lathe so that you can fit your chucks onto it but this does not have that. How would I mount my chuck to the face plate (I have a Myford M-Type)?

The Chronos page (page Ref: SOB1) says it comes with a tailstock - I don't understand why it would come with a tailstock?

Am I right in thinking that I can use this for machining as well as marking out - i.e. if I fit a drill to my headstock then can I use the rotary table and carriage to allow me to drill a ring of holes?

Many thanks Martin

I am not familiar with the Shoba rotary table, but on mine (a 6" Emco one) I have a 5" 4-jaw s/c chuck on a 6" backplate which is flat (i.e. no lathe mounting boss). Holes through the extra 1/2" flange at the side can be fastened down to the rotary table using T-bolts in the usual way. I find the chuck mounted this way is so useful that I can't remember the last time I removed it.

If you want to machine a long shaft, you will almost certainly need tailstock support. On example is putting keyways (either continuous, or Woodruff) on a drive shaft. Since it comes with a tailstock, it suggests the table can be used vertically as well as horizontally, which doubles the usefulness (see previous example).

Absolutely; would be completely over-engineered otherwise. It should be capable of some reasonably heavy milling work.

However, using such a device on a lathe is bound to be less convenient, they are really intended for use on a milling machine. I'm sure you can find some way of doing it, but getting the height adjustment will be tricky.

David

Martin,

Yes, you can indeed use it to drill rings of holes, mill ars or circular pockets etc etc. To attach your chuck, you'd need to find some way of fitting it using the T slots. You may need to make up some type of adapter plate to enable you to use the T slots, but it's definitely do-able!

The tailstock is designed to support the end of long workpieces when the rotary table is used in "vertical" mode with long, slender workpieces. Imaging trying to cut a couple of key-ways or similar along an 8" length of bar which you can only hold on the end 1" for instance, and you'll imagine why a tailstock is a good idea! You'd have a set up similar to that shown (albeit with a dividing head) in that rather small pic

Hope this helps

Alastair

These tables are basically knock-offs of the Vertex rotary tables. The

6" has a No.2 Morse taper socket in the centre of the table - you can therefore fit anything with a No.2 Morse shaft to the table. For example, you can buy No.2 Morse - to - Myford nose adapters that allow Myford chucks to be mounted in a 2 Morse socket.

Regards, Tony

In article , Tony Jeffree writes

I have seen these, but always suspected that the rigidity would suffer compared with a direct backplate mounting to the rotary table. Can anyone who actually uses such an adapter comment on this?

David

Jeffree

suffer

I think that they are best considered a centring locator and for cuts of any significant weight the chuck it should be bolted. A flanged chuck obviously is easiest for this

AWEM

Thank you for all your comments, it all makes much more sense now. I was thinking of using it specifically bolted on to a lathe cross slide when in reality it is probably aimed at use on a milling machine (hence the reason why I didn't understand the tailstock - the picture definitely helped there) - having looked again on Chronos website, it is under the milling category so I should have spotted that.

I see what you mean about attaching the chuck. I do have a spare 3 jaw chuck that has no backplate for the lathe therefore I could probably put that to use if I make a backplate to fit it to the rotary table. Presumably it is necessary to have oversized holes where it is bolted to the rotary table so that it can be trued up with a DTI (or pehaps you put a centre in the table and a centre in the mandrel and line them up) when bolting to the table?

I also see what you mean about getting the centre height correct - Chronos specify 105mm so providing my cross slide is more than 105mm below the mandrel centre, I ought to be able to pack it up to the right height with some plate or other. It also seems possible to bolt it down horizontally although I can't immediately see a use for that (I'm sure there is but my inexperience limits ideas there).

I now have to decide if I really do NEED this or whether I just WANT it and instead ought to spend my limited budget on something else ;-) ...

Thanks again Martin

This implies one chuck on the lathe and one on the rotary table, thus to go from one to the other means re-mounting the work, or have I got the wrong idea?

Baldric

You can use the MT as the location then bolt down on the flanges if you have an MT to Myford Nose adaptor, so long as the flange thickness is carefully selected.

AWEM