Repurpose old rotary table as welding positioner.

[Tmate]

Since I purchased a slightly larger Yuasa rotary table, i have no need for my old 9" Troyke BH-9. Since they are not worth a great deal on the used market, I thought I might try my hand at using it as a welding positioner.

Using it solely as a flat, horizontal positioner requires virtually no fabrication or modification. I coupled it with an adaptor to a Grainger gear motor, and hooked it up to an electric train transformer. It rotates easily and has a broad speed range in forward and reverse.

I plan to fabricate a right angle mounting plate for it so it can be used both horizontally and vertically. The motor rests perfectly flat against the mounting plate, and is held in place by the coupler. There is little to no oil in the unit, so leakage shouldn't be a problem if used vertically. I'll need to make a top plate for it to protect the top of the unit and provide some clamping holes, etc.

I happened to have several of the gear motors and a transformer on hand, so the project cost me nothing. Kind of a dumb project, but fun to experiment with.

 

[jwmelvin]

Good stuff. I did about the same with an extra dividing head, stepper motor, and cheap controller/driver. I kind of rushed through it and supported the motor from a base plate; I’d like to make a coupling tube so that I can pivot the dividing head.

It worked great for the one thing I’ve used it on so far.

 

[Firstram]

Where did you get the controller/driver?

 

[jwmelvin]

Where did you get the controller/driver?

I used this from Amazon:

Stepper Motor Driver Controller Integrated Board Forward/Reverse Pulse Speed Angle Control Module PLC Serial Communication for NEMA 17 23 Motor https://a.co/d/gdcrUmO

 

[benmychree]

Nothing I see mentions having a rotating ground unit to spare the bearings form spark erosion, this is important, when I made one, I electrically insulated the rotating bearings and made a copper against steel rotating ground.

 

[jwmelvin]

Nothing I see mentions having a rotating ground unit to spare the bearings form spark erosion, this is important, when I made one, I electrically insulated the rotating bearings and made a copper against steel rotating ground.

It’s a good point for sure. I’m not too concerned as long as the work clamp connects on the work side of the bearings. For my initial try, you can see the copper plate I used in the work clamp. A slip ring affixed to the chuck would be good and I do think I’ll make one.

 

[MrWhoopee]

You guys are killin' me here. That's exactly the size RT I need.

 

[aliva]

A couple of suggestions, get some anti spatter spray for the RT and put some sort of hinged plexiglass cover on the controller, sparks and slag get all over the place

 

[Tmate]

New Approach:

I have some old drill press parts on hand. I think I'll use the base and swiveling table pictured, and use a 12" long piece of 2 3/4" o.d. DOM tubing as a column.

It will allow the rotary table to swivel anywhere from horizontal to vertical and lock in place. Pin holes are in place for horizontal and vertical positions. It will also have the ability to rotate around the column slightly for heavier work. I would make an adapter plate to mate the rotary table to the drill press table.

A 1" length of cold roll round bar will extend down from the 1" hole in the center of the rotary table to provide a ground when the table is horizontal. It would be removed and the work grounded directly when used in other than horizontal.

The drill press parts should easily support the 40 lb. rotary table weight. Since the swivel axis would not be centered on the mass, I would probably mount some sort of handle to help control it.

 

[Tmate]

I got it all put together last night, and tried some welding. It worked, but the motor isn't quite fast enough, and not powerful enough. I ordered the pictured motor & variable speed control which is 3 times as powerful and 3 times as fast (135 rpm). Obviously, it's going to need to be bolted down to a bigger support stand.