Rotary Table for Craftex CX605

[YYCHM]

Looking to get a rotary table for my CX605. Can't decide if it should be 3" or 4". A 4" kind of overwhelms the mill size wise. To add to the dilemma, a 3" 4 jaw chuck with mounting plate is available for the 4" table. No suitable chuck is available for the 3" table. Further more, I was hoping the 4 jaw chuck could server double duty on my 7-12 lathe but sadly it doesn't have reversible jaws.

Any guidance is appreciated. What are you guys using on these small mills?

 

[TheLocalDrunk]

Buy the bigger one.
Complain to wife how your mill is too small.
Buy a new mill to fit the rotary table
(I know, I know. Im loads of help)

 

[YYCHM]

Buy the bigger one.
Complain to wife how your mill is too small.
Buy a new mill to fit the rotary table
(I know, I know. Im loads of help)

 

[Janger]

Bigger one. Need room for clamps and such.

 

[Dabbler]

here's a thought: If you buy a small table, you need to majke a fixturing plate on it, just to hold the parts. I know it sounds silly, but my 6" is barely big enough to do small work. 4"mkinimum, 5" even better.

 

[Dabbler]

YYCHobbyMachinist - I know of a basement with a 15" X60 lathe, full sized mill AND an 6X18 hydraulic grinder. it can be done.

 

[TheLocalDrunk]

lol, that is narrow
BUT, when we moved my Mill it was just 2 guys and a dolly. One above, one below. You could get something like my mill down there, no problem. (Mind you my stairs and stair well is not developed) ((My mill is equiv to the King PDM30))

Interesting question though as I dont have a rotary table yet so this will be on my list of things soon enough.
Last time I needed one we used a dividing head.... so now I muddy the waters and ask. If you were to only have one, which is better? Dividing head? or Rotary Table?

 

[PeterT]

My vote is rotary table. You can mount parts to it, chucks to it, center point in it, vertical or horizontal mode, add dividing plates to it, use in conjunction with tail stock. DH can accomplish this too but the package can get taller & a few more limitations in face up mode. DH has no graduated dial so its always going to be a case of positioning to plate holes. You can rotate through continuously with a DH like making circular arcs but a little more taxing on the coconut going between angles. DH sets up to intermediate (non 0 & 90 deg) angles better because it has a pivoting head, RT doesn't set up well in this regard, it favors 0 & 90. Much of decision depends on types of jobs you anticipate. Folks that make gears all day long don't see the logic of RT. Folks that make complex plates with combinations of arcs & holes & slots & radii don't like fiddling DH as much.

When considering RT's, check & see if tail stock & dividing plates are available. Even if you don't buy today, its good to know its available vs unavailable. Another thing not mentioned about size of RT - as the table diameter grows, usually so does the total thickness to some degree. People forget this detail on mini mills. By the time you account for thickness of RT + intermediate plate + chuck or holding fixture + the part itself.. the wedding cake tends to grow in height. Now from the top down you still need drill chuck + drill or related tooling. The net effect may mean you don't have a lot of leftover room or simply cant accommodate it on the mill. So I'd recommend just mocking it up on your machine based on published dimensions.

 

[Dabbler]

Although they are similar, they are they way they are for a reason. That being said, ofteh they can do mostly the same basic operations in a similar way.

Rotary Table
A very stable holder for things at 90 degrees.
Slower at indexing, but we are hobbyists, after all!
Designed to clamp items to the surface
Centering an object takes time

Indexing head
Superior at doing non 90 degree work
designed to use a chuck
Centering is easier

So like all things, it depends on the work you will be doing in the future.

-if it is all round and centred, and you need to go small, a dividing head is far better.
-If you want the best in versatility, have the room and you are using mostly right angles, a rotary table is gong to be better.

There are specific instances where a small RT is great, but it isn't very good at holding work in the general case. A small diving head will cost about double a small RT, so it also depends on what you can afford.

 

[Brian H]

I am also intrigued by this. I have the PA version of this mill. There are a few youtube videos on installing the hydraulic lift kit from LMS and it is supposed to increase the overall travel of the mill head to increase capacity.
I haven't gotten that far as to do this, but, it seems this might be an option with a larger work holding device

 

[PeterT]

Is this your mill? When they say 7" max spindle travel, where is 'zero'? With the quill end just off the table datum or up a few inches? I the they are referring to the displacement distance of the head itself? Like, when you pull the drill-press-mode handle down, it tractors the power head - a quill does not extend out right?

Anyway, here is a generic 6" RT. Just eyeballing I'm pretty sure it stands ~at least 3.5" tall. Then you have to deduct tooling & cutters/drill from the ceiling side. Its actually not easy to find a ~6" diameter RT platens that are low profile, most look generically like this unfortunately. I've seen another Asian import that was a bit thinner. I would have to say its just not a viable option. I have a little Sherline 4" RT but reserved for finicky work. I usually hold that in my bigger mill vise. Its actually pretty well made. Anyway I'd encourage you to mock up the distances beforehand.

 

[Janger]

Harold Hall the machining author has a small low profile design for a manual (no worm gear) RT. It might be more suitable for the mini mills. It looks like a good project.

 

[Janger]

http://www.projectsinmetal.com/free-project-plans/rotary-table-by-harold-hall/

 

[YYCHM]

http://www.projectsinmetal.com/free-project-plans/rotary-table-by-harold-hall/

I take it one has to create an account to download the plans?

Kind of looks like a project that requires the project to make the project LOL. I have a few books with those types of projects described in them.

 

[historicalarms]

There is a thread on the forum where a fellow "John Conroy" is making a very good looking "radius turning tool" that looks like it would be a good substitute for a small RT. The cutter holder could just be re-designed into a table head and with the tapered bearing pre-load that it has, I think it would handle the torque of a mini mill. Maybe 1.5 " thick and a dia. of whatever you choose...even interchangeable heads from 4 to 6"...whatever floats yer boat.

 

[PeterT]

Some of the Hall RT fabrication procedure.
http://www.projectsinmetal.com/a-simple-rotary-table-without-a-worm-drive/

Here is the Sherline
https://www.sherline.com/product/3700-4-rotary-table/

 

[Johnwa]

To add to Peters post, here’s a 6” vertex sitting on my minimill. There is 7” between the tip of the endmill and th RT. It might work ok on something mounted directly on the RT but it gets pretty shaky with the head up that high.

 

[YYCHM]

The quill on my mill, in the lowest position is 2 3/4" from the table. In the highest position it is 10 1/2" from the table.

The 4" RT I'm considering is 2" high in the horizontal mounting position and the center is just over 2" in the vertical mounting position. Should be ok, correct?

Sounds like the 3" RT would be a pain to setup on. Will give up on that one.

 

[PeterT]

The dimensions of the 4" RT sound more suitable to the size of your mill. I'll scribble up Johns pic to show example how to consider your vertical room. He is showing an end mill which has low stickout. That's fine but you will be drilling too, so mount your drill chuck & some typical drills, walk the mill head up as high as it will go & see what you have left for RT + mounted chuck + interface plate if necessary. Some guys buy a set up (reduced length) stubby drills, not just for rigidity but they have no other option.

Here is a pic of my Sherline RT. Again, not plugging the product. But another benefit is their little 3J & 4J lathe chucks integrate on the RT & is vertically quite compact.

Which 4J chuck are you considering?

 

[Bofobo]

here's a thought: If you buy a small table, you need to majke a fixturing plate on it, just to hold the parts. I know it sounds silly, but my 6" is barely big enough to do small work. 4"mkinimum, 5" even better.

I am also intrigued by this. I have the PA version of this mill. There are a few youtube videos on installing the hydraulic lift kit from LMS and it is supposed to increase the overall travel of the mill head to increase capacity.
I haven't gotten that far as to do this, but, it seems this might be an option with a larger work holding device

I have the 4”rt and the travel kit from lms, i have a plan for an anchoring plate and a 4”4jaw with no way of attaching it yet (time restraint mostly) but if you are in calgary nw, next week sometime ill be sone lights and can give you a looksee at what i got goin on