Rotary Table for Taig?

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Spokerider

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Looking for a 4" manual rotary table for a Taig mill.
Wanting decent quality and not the bottom of the barrel. Buy once, cry once.

What are the options? Sherline would be one option but not sure if it mounts easily [ without adapter plate ] to the Taig or not. Ebay is polluted with China and India stuff. Should I consider them? or run away and fast?
What else is there?

Thanks.
 
Awhile ago, I picked up a 3" rotary table from MicroMark for use on the Taig (a 4" proved to be too large). It works fine, but they no longer sell it. here is a similar one on Amazon.

I don't know that "buy once, cry once" really applies here, as none of the 3" rotary tables are going to be all that different - none are going to be very rigid, and you're not likely to find one that mounts vertically and comes with chuck, tailstock, and dividing plate.

As for mounting, you bolt 'em down with T-nuts. The mounting holes can be a bit oversize, so you might need to make a bushing or use a clamp.
 
I don't know if the Sherline rotab will mount on a Taig mill but I don't see why it wouldn't. I can tell you that the Sherline table is made well and works pretty good. I would buy it before even considering an import.
 
I'll be watching this thread with interest because I am also looking for a rotary table for my Taig mill.
 
Thank you guys.
Having read many threads on just about anything { machinist } made in China, I know that quality varies, even between the exact same products.......it can be hit or miss, and one never knows what what will arrive once ordered. Not sure on Indian made stuff? I'll assume it's the same however.
I already know I don't want mediocre junk.
 
I would not be surprised that tools made in India are good quality, I know that in the 1970s, I used a Kirloskar lathe that was quite good quality.
 
Spokerider said:
I'll assume it's the same however.
I already know I don't want mediocre junk.
Click to expand...

The difference in price between a Sherline and one of the ebay/amazon imports is so low (what, 60 or 70 bucks?) that there is no reason not to go with the Sherline. You're going to have to customize the mounting method a bit anyways, so that's not really an argument against. There's just not much of a range in the 3" size. Not that I know of, at least - if somebody makes a super high-end one, I'm all ears
 
I have the Sherline Rotary Table with the CNC stepper motor and controller. It is SO nice to use. The controller is simple and allows you to program movements by divisions or degrees, plus some other neat features. It mounts the same way as the vise does. There is a grove in the base I use to hold it to the mill table with t-nuts in the slot and some L shaped hold down brackets. I can't see any reason it wouldn't work on the taig the same way. The Taig tee slots may be different than the Sherline but that should pose no problem.
 
Another plus for the Sherline RT is Sherline sells a bunch of accessories for it as well. There is a 5" tooling plate, a tilting angle table, and a variety of center adapters to mount a chuck to the RT. They also have a full CNC conversion including a CNC indexer if you ever wanted to go that way.


I was going to say I didn't see that much of a price advantage on the no name Ebay rotary tables, but the Sherline is almost $300. I didn't remember it being that much, in fact I paid less for my 6" Taiwan RT although it was lightly used.
Sherline has regular monthly sales, so if you are not in a hurry the rotary tables will go on sale for (usually) 20% off.

In favor of the import rotary tables some of them are available with indexing plates and tail stocks allowing them to be used as an indexer as well as a rotary table.
 
Yes you will need an adapter to mount a Sherline rotary table on your Taig mill. To be fair, you need adapters to mount it any way other than horizontal even on a Sherline mill. If you were to get one, I would recommend their Tilt Angle Table as well. I can be drilled to fit your T slots and would give the ability to set the angle anywhere between horizontal and vertical.

Check out this video at the six minute mark:

Eric
 
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