Rotary table

RDG tools have a 6" rotary table for £139.00 Has anyone used one & are they ok for the money.

Next question is there a similar item at the same-ish money from any of the Forum sponsors on here.

It is not something i will be using much, but i bought a 3" one some time ago & it is too small for the items i need it for.

Steve.

 I will visit the RDG site for a look. I have looked at the three slot one which is painted green, it cannot be used with plates, but that is no great loss for most of us. The scale divisions are 12 minutes of angle, but I recon you could read it to 2 minutes, which is plenty for most work. The three slots mean that a three jaw chuck with front mounting could use the tee slots without any adaptor plate.

Edited By old mart on 26/12/2020 14:52:59

Steve,

Check with RDG with respect to the plates, they all use a 3 c/s screw pattern and RDG don't actually sell them except with the BS0 head so they may not fit.

Hello Steve, I've just had a look and notice it has just three slots and I think four is better, as things are generally easier to fasten on to the table. On the plus side, it is shallow so that it leave more head room which is useful. Have you has a loo on Ebay as i notice some of the sellers are doing a package of dividing plates and tail stock. John

Hi old mart.

The Soba one does look impressive with all the index plates etc. It is my Christmas pressy to me so i could cheat a bit.

Steve.

Noted thanks

Steve.

I know nothing about the RDG offering but can say I am pleased with my Vortex 10" HV. ( I assume the 6" version to be similar) I use it a lot and can pick it up on my own. I also have a 14" rotary that takes a lot of forward planning to use. No fun clearing the path through the workshop for the wheeled table it lives on to get to the mill.

Hi john. Room is not a problem on the Tom Senior. It has a pretty huge 16" knee height. I do think on reflection that the Soba one is better. Plus someone who has one & the same machine as mine, i should not ignore.

Steve.

Have a look for an old British rotary table I bought an 8” one looked like it had never been used just painted a few times. Got it off eBay for £80 an absolute bargin just a matter of waiting till the right one turned up too big for most model engineer machines.

Depends on what will fit your machine.

FWIW I have had a Vertex HV6 for may years. It is almost always used with Division Plates.

My preference is for as high a ratio as possible. Any error in positioning the handle will be less, at the workpiece, with a 90;1 than with a 36:1 ratio.

3 or 4 T slots? 4 would be my choice.

The Vertex has a 2 MT bore, so adaptors are available for Myford fitting 3 and 4 jaw chucks.

If you use these, be careful that the cutting action of the mill does not unscrew the chuck!

Howard

I’m a bit like Howard, but I have two 150mm Vertex tables. The second one was bought from the ‘net, mainly for the good quality chuck that was mounted on it. I prefer the 4 T-slot version.

One tends to get used vertically (with dividing plates) on the Centec, as it has a plate attached to fit the table slots, and the other gets used (mostly horizontally) on the small mill. My original plan was to sell off the second table, but soon after I got it I needed a table on one mill while the other remained set up for a job on the other mill......

I do occasionally make purchases from RDG but I’m always aware that the quality/value for money may fall short of expectation.

There are nine pages of threads on the forum search for ‘rotary’. Most are about rotary tables - might be worth a read of some?

If used vertically you may find a need for a tailstock arises. Dividing plates are necessary for cutting gears. Choose carefully, is my advice.

Back again Steve, I have a 6" Vertex and did the stepper motor conversion, as was published in MEW some time ago. I don't have to bother with the division plates now for gear cutting, no more miss counting or thin and thick teeth. One of my most useful jobs in the workshop. John

I wouldn't care i bought a superb Walter unit with chuck & dividing plate (1 only). The problem was it was way too big for my machine at 8". I could not even carry it on my own. It was bought at a liquidation sale unseen hence too big.

Hence the reason for looking at a 6" version.

The Soba one that I bought privately some time ago will fit the TS very well, as the tee slot pitch matches. I bought the plates later and made a tailstock myself. The resolution is 1 minute of angle at a ratio of 90:1 using the vernier scale. That was the RT that had radial play in the table needle roller bearing. The bearing was binned and an aluminium bush made which solved the problem. It is 4 slot which makes it easy to hold a front mount 4 jaw chuck. It is higher than the RDG one, but everything depends on the available budget allocation.

Edited By old mart on 26/12/2020 17:15:08

I’m surprised that an 8” is far too big - after all once set up, the only usual mill table traverse would be arranged to be in the x axis, and in a circle with the rotary table? Heavy is better, for lots of milling operations.

The Tom Senior light vertical table is quite small, which is the main reason why we did not get rid of the drill mill at the museum and now have two. That picture shows the Soba 6" taking up the full width of the bed.

Steve, if you want to splash out for the whole lot, then Chronos has the HV6 for about £262.

Edited By old mart on 26/12/2020 17:49:03

Old mart is correct. The one i have is very large. Extremely heavy & of a very good make. Shame really but never mind.

Steve.

Edited By Steviegtr on 26/12/2020 22:44:12

That monster would kill your Z drive.

Dead right, Dave, Steve's Z drive would go down, but there could be smoke going up. I would estimate that the HV6 type are 1/3 of the weight of the big one. Selling it on ebay should recoupe most of the cost of a 6" one.

That monster would kill me.

Steve.