Arc On A Manual Mill?

grepper

Registered
Registered
Joined
Jan 8, 2016
Messages
171
I have a Repton RT1 for turning balls and radiuses on a lathe. It works OK albeit not quite as solid as I would like, especially on a 7x10 lathe, but with care it works.


Can I do sort of the same thing using this vice
http://www.littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=2500
if I put a handle on it?

In other words, could I make an inexpensive rotary table, hand controlled with a big handle, using a vice with a swivel base?

I know I could make a lot of plunge cuts and then do some grinding and sanding, etc., but it would be cooler to just cut a smooth arc.

Would the vice/handle thing work with careful, small cuts? Let me guess, if the hold down nut is loosened, it would be way to sloppy?

Rotary tables are pretty pricey.
 
Last edited:
Yes. That's exactly what I was thinking. Thanks. I guess the basic idea works. I'll be interested to see if there is a way to implement that using the swivel base that comes with the vice.

I would like to be able to cut bores for bearings on things that I can't chuck in a lathe, nice rounded corners, and other arcs. Sometimes for practical reasons, other times for a more professional, less homemade appearance.
 
The problem you will have is that the work piece will not be centered over the pivot point so you won't have any good way to set the arc length. Also, since the work piece wouldn't be centered, the arc would not end up centered on the work piece. The arc would end up offset. Can you just rotate the vise, yes, but then you will be manually trying to hold the work piece and rotate it through the cutter. The work piece and vise will most likely kick back and potentially injure you in the process. The only proper way to do this operation on a manual mill is with a rotary table.
 
Thanks for the reply. I've solved that problem... going CNC.:)
 
Back
Top