Rotary table centres

[DavidR8]

I see that rotary tables come in two flavours of centre; B&S and MT.
Is there an advantage to one over the other?

 

[middle.road]

I see that rotary tables come in two flavours of centre; B&S and MT.
Is there an advantage to one over the other?

Do you mean the taper that goes through the center of the table or a separate tailstock type center?

 

[brino]

MT would be easier to find......and therefore cheaper.
Not that B&S is impossible, just less readily available.
-brino

 

[DavidR8]

Do you mean the taper that goes through the center of the table or a separate tailstock type center?

Whoops, table centres is what I was meaning. Edited my original post to be more clear.

 

[middle.road]

MT would be easier to find......and therefore cheaper.
Not that B&S is impossible, just less readily available.
-brino

And cost less.

 

[Aaron_W]

I see that rotary tables come in two flavours of centre; B&S and MT.
Is there an advantage to one over the other?

The one that you already have would be a plus.

I think this is an advantage to MT as it is more common for a variety of uses. MT is more common than B&S, and while R8 is a common mill taper, it isn't used for much beyond that.

I have a lot of shared MT2 tooling because my mill has an MT2 spindle, lathe has an MT2 tailstock, dividing head uses MT2 and so does my 6" rotary table. The horizontal mill is the oddball with a B&S #9.

 

[DavidR8]

Thanks gents, my mill and lathe are MT3 spindles, with MT2 tailstock on the lathe.
Looks like 6" tables come with MT2 whereas 8" come with MT3. Looks like I have to go with an 8" if I want to use any of my MT3 tooling.

 

[benmychree]

Since the center hole is mostly used for centering plugs, I favor a straight hole rather than a taper.

 

[brino]

Looks like I have to go with an 8" if I want to use any of my MT3 tooling.

Either that or just "HM-up" and go spend a bunch of money on a set of tools in a new taper size!
-brino

 

[DavidR8]

Either that or just "HM-up" and go spend a bunch of money on a set of tools in a new taper size!
-brino

"H-M-up" that's a good one... Fortunately, my partner sees this as necessary therapy