rotary table

Hello all,

I have the chance to buy a 10'' rotary table, it has a name plate on the side says Hofmann, it's in very little used condition, it still has all it's paint apart from a couple of scuff marks, excellent condition, it works so smoothly, with no backlash that I can detect , table is unmarked,

I have never used or own a rotary table, I only do hobby stuff but been told that I can buy it for £150 and your getting a bargain at that price

Hoffman is high end gear so probably a good buy if its in good condition and has the index plates etc with it. But 10"? Will you need a hoist to lift it on and off the milling machine? They weigh about 80 lbs or more And is your milling machine big enough to take it?

I had a 10" Hoffman rotary table for many year's, an excellent piece of kit. I sold it and bought a Vertex 10" rotary table because I thought the horizontal and vertical clamping feature of the Vertex would be useful. Reality is I have only used the vertical clamping a couple of times and I regret letting the Hoffman go. A 10" rotary is ideal for my Bridgeport and is about as much as I can lift, I have a 14" rotary used every now and again but that required making a wheeled bench to get on the machine.

Go grab the Hoffman at £150 a real steal.

At that bargain price I would quickly do the deal,I have a Hoffman universal dividing head and it is a top class piece of equipment. regarding size with rotary tables within reason the bigger the better in order to get more clamping space, I did have a French made really substantial 12 inch rotary table,ex Dufor mill ,very heavy,so with old age I did decide to swap it for a 10 inch Taylor Hobson table,again a top class uk manufacturer in its day, and it is still maneageable and suits the smaller 00 Omnimill i now have.

Um, a rotary table simplifies many operations - whenever a job needs to be turned through an angle: making gears, drilling PCD, cutting wheel spokes, adding flats to rods, cutting arcs, and much else. But it's a waste of space and money unless you need one!

Otherwise sounds like a good buy apart from the size and weight. A 10" table is too big and heavy for smaller milling machines - Bridgeport size and up needed. How much does the table weigh? An elderly weakling like myself might struggle to lift it!

Dave

To all you 70 yr old weaklings out there :

Build a lifting platform as I did, problem solved ! Best thing I ever made !

Details in my album and made from cheapy cheapy stuff.

Big milling vises/ rotary tables/ big chucks / loading car/van ? all the same to it.

Does wonders for the back too !

Sometimes you need the centre of the table under the centre of the cutter on a Vertical mill and that needs a big machine.

It's a steal because no one wants them in industry due to CNC and not many ME's want them either. Great for drilling holes in a circle on a drilling table with a car jack underneath for extra support.

You need to state the mill you will be fitting it to.

I heard about someone who had Hoffman. I think it was a rotary table and it needed regressing. Problem was the grease was into three figures.

Just check if it works ok and what grease he uses.

A Rotary Table, is a very useful item, especially if Division Plates come with it.

The ability to mount wit with the face vertical, under a vertical mill, will allow gear cutting.

A table of the Divisions available will be needed. Otherwise, it will take a time to make up a spreadsheet for nthis.

(It may be possible to change some of the formulae in my spreadsheet for the 90:1 ratio Vertex HV6, to take account of the probably different gear ratio of the Hoffman.

But a 10" table is a big one, so may be too large to fit into the table of a smaller mill., in either orientation.

Howard

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the advice

I thought about all the times , if only I had a rotary table, and there was quite a few times in the past, so I went ahead and bought the Hofmann, it's in such good condition and operated so smoothly., I had to buy it for the price,

You hear some say , I have a rotary table and I hardly use it , But the point is they do own one

Good move, Lee

MichaelG.

I'm the proud owner of an almost mint 10" Hoffman too, lovely thing but #### heavy!