Can this be used as a 5th axis?

Pretty trivial. Replace the handwheel with a timing pulley, and mount the motor on a suitable bracket. maybe cover it with a sheet metal cover to keep chips out of the belt.

Jon

Yes it could be, and you have already posted pictures and/or video showing you have all the skills to do so. The only question is how much backlash and how much side play are in the axis itself.

Thanks Jon.

I am not 100% sure that this rotary table is small, but I would estimate its diameter as 5-8".

Don't forget the question of generating g-code to actually do something productive with 5 axes, and the fact that 5 axis machines normally are quite different than a mill/VMC with a 4th axis RT.

That is true. Mach will support upto 6 axis, but realistically I can not visualize actually writing useful code for more than 4. I can see applications where I slave one axis to another... run two machines off one computer to generate two parts simultaneously. Or just 2 Z axis on the same machine to cut two parts... Or two Y axis for dual drive to avoid twist on a gantry machine... etc etc.

Now, my brother in-law is a manager for one of those outfits who makes aerospace parts in 5+ axis on machines larger than my shop building, but I wouldn't have a clue how to program one myself. Not sure he would either. LOL.

It is not as small as I hoped, weighs about 150-170 lbs with the chuck (I could barely lift it into my pickup). On the plus side, it was never used, and comes with lots of accessories, such as plates, chuck, slotted backplate.

I probably need to get W axis working, before I start even thinking about using this head.

--Well for small you might want to take a look at the Sherline cnc table. Has its own controller too. A pal of mine made the controller; I'll ask him if it can interface with other machines. Here's what I've done to mine:

I identified the table, it is a CS-8 indexing spacer, exactly as pictured with all the plates etc:

It is too heavy for a 5th axis, and as Pete C pointed out, I do not have the software anyway, and he did not say this but I have no skills to use a 5th axis either.

--Iggy what is it you're trying to make that requires 5 axis control?

I have no idea! I just thought that it would be nice to have a 5 axis machine for, comparatively, next to nothing.

--Aha! Well a lot can be done with 3 axes or less and a bit of ingenuity.. ;-)