Rotary table size

[Flyinfool]

Be sure to look at the weight of whatever you are looking at. While I would love a 10" I could never lift it. It would require some sort of crane hydraulics or something to get it on/off the mill and in/out of storage location. Not to mention it would need a very strong storage system. I have a 6 inch, Phase II, I also made a 10 inch dia x 2 inch thick cast AL table/pallet for it for the one time I ever actually needed it that big. The AL is strong enough and has T slots in it the same size as the RT has so all the same tooling can be used.

 

[Pevehouse]

I have a no name, made in Japan, 10" Rotary Table and it's sort of too large for my Bridgeport clone, 9"x42" table. I am keeping my eye out for a 6", I think that would work for most anything I do.
Not sure of the new Asian brands but a nice vintage Palmgren would probably do.

Been looking at those and there’s a YUASA made in Japan as well

 

[Pevehouse]

A Vertex (Taiwanese) 8” would be ideal. I have two. Here’s the unit HV8) and seller (Eisen) I recommend:

VERTEX HV-8 8" Horizontal / Vertical Rotary Table with Face Plate | eBay

They are widely used for circular cutting work, angle setting, boring, spot-facing and similar work. Worm is hardened and ground. The ratio is 90:1. The work table is graduated a full 360° so that one turn of the handle moves the table through 4°.

www.ebay.com

Those are very nice. Got it in my cart. Gonna scan around a little more but I think the vertex is going to win out. 8” is kind of a middle ground too, so it should work out great

 

[Pevehouse]

A Vertex (Taiwanese) 8” would be ideal. I have two. Here’s the unit HV8) and seller (Eisen) I recommend:

VERTEX HV-8 8" Horizontal / Vertical Rotary Table with Face Plate | eBay

They are widely used for circular cutting work, angle setting, boring, spot-facing and similar work. Worm is hardened and ground. The ratio is 90:1. The work table is graduated a full 360° so that one turn of the handle moves the table through 4°.

www.ebay.com

Thinking hard on it but the only thing that puts me off is the shipping cost. I’m in ALABAMA. So shipping is like $200 for me. Still on top though

 

[Larry$]

I've posted about Rotary tables before. I have the model Davidbest posted here. 8" was as heavy as I was willing to lift. I'm glad I didn't go smaller because I run out of clamping space @ 8" and have solved that problem by casting an 11" plate and put 8 T-slots in it. The Vertex was clean inside and very smooth running. I got the 3 T slot model so I could direct mount a 3 jaw that is made for through mounting. Get the 4 slot version if you aren't going to through mount a chuck. Not cheap by the time the footstock & dividing plates are added. The Vevor looks like a direct knock off & a lot cheaper, but ?Risky?? If all you want a RT for is bolt circles, it is a lot faster and easier to just use the DRO.

 

[projectnut]

I have 2 rotary tables in the shop. I started with an 8"Eron model made in Japan with X and Y adjustments. I found it too small for most things so I later invested in a 12" Index brand table. The Eron is light at only around 35 lbs. The Index (prior to Wells buying out Index in 1974) weighs in at about 125 lbs.

ERON made in Japan ROTARY TABLE 8 INCH, good condition | eBay

From an estate, all the handles turn & table moves. I find great joy knowing that all people will reap what they sow, and that all people will get to deal with God for their actions good or bad. I test them, & or inspect them, when I can & note what I notice in testing & inspecting.

www.ebay.com

 

[pontiac428]

I should clarify my earlier post where I said Vertex (Taiwan) was the floor for acceptability in quality and motion. I didn't mean that in a derogatory way at all, it's the minimum point of entry for being satisfied and not working around any shortcomings from going cheaper. Vertex and Phase II rotary tables are dandy. I'm quite content with my Kamakura, so I think the older Japanese ones are cool as well as smooth and functional while managing backlash to a very high degree. I just can't say my experiences with the budget-pleasing Chinese stuff are pleasant enough to earn my endorsement. It's a quality tradeoff where the savings defeats the functionality of the tool.

 

[RJSakowski]

I have a 12" Enco H/V RT that I bought some thirty years ago. It is a beast and because of that, it lives more or less permanently on my RF30 clone. When I last mounted it, I could barely lift it into place. I wouldn't try to move it without a lift device nowadays. But with a lift device, it would be manageable.

I also have Tormach 6" RT, a Phase II, modified with a stepper for 4th axis use. Even that is a bit unwieldy. It lives in the cabinet under the CNC most of the time.

 

[projectnut]

I have a 12" Enco H/V RT that I bought some thirty years ago. It is a beast and because of that, it lives more or less permanently on my RF30 clone. When I last mounted it, I could barely lift it into place. I wouldn't try to move it without a lift device nowadays. But with a lift device, it would be manageable.

I also have Tormach 6" RT, a Phase II, modified with a stepper for 4th axis use. Even that is a bit unwieldy. It lives in the cabinet under the CNC most of the time.

I use a hydraulic table to move my 12” Index rotary table around. I line up the hydraulic table with the the mill table and slide it on or off. When not on the mill table I store it on a bench a few feet away. Then the hydraulic table can be used to move other heavy tooling around the shop.

 

[bulgie]

A Vertex (Taiwanese) 8” would be ideal. I have two. Here’s the unit HV8) and seller (Eisen) I recommend:

VERTEX HV-8 8" Horizontal / Vertical Rotary Table with Face Plate | eBay

They are widely used for circular cutting work, angle setting, boring, spot-facing and similar work. Worm is hardened and ground. The ratio is 90:1. The work table is graduated a full 360° so that one turn of the handle moves the table through 4°.

www.ebay.com

I was interested in a Vertex before I ended up buying a vintage American RT. I watched some of these videos from Stefan Gotteswinter on tear-down and improvements on the Vertex. Maybe there's something interesting there for current or future Vertex owners, or those on the fence.

Dunno if you need to watch all 5, probably some redundancy there. Pick and choose what interests you, maybe watch them speeded up and just slow down for the interesting parts.