mini rotary table free sample
Linear Motors can be used in cleanroom environments. In fact, many front-end semiconductor applications have linear motors in use. In wafer manufacturing plants, high-precision lithography machines, for example, use linear motors in XY positioning tables with very high accuracy (nanometer resolution) and submicron accuracy in cleanroom classes according to ISO 2.
A rotary table used in conjunction with a mill allows a machinist to produce virtually any part they can design. Sherline’s rotary table is a precision piece of equipment that has been designed to work with their vertical milling machines. However, it can be used on any mill whenever the small 4-inch size would be an advantage. The only limits are size, not complexity.
The table is 2″ high and 4″ (100mm) in diameter. The main components have been machined from solid bar stock steel, and the complete unit weighs seven pounds. The table has been engraved with a laser, giving sharp and precise lines every 5°, numbered every 15°. These lines are calibrated with the 72-tooth worm gear that is driven by the handwheel. The handwheel is divided into 50 parts, making each line on the handwheel 1/10°. This allows a circle to be divided into 3600 increments without interpolation. Seventy-two revolutions of the handwheel rotate the table one revolution.
The rotary tables can hold more weight when they are not under a continuous load. Click on the Video tab above to see examples of different weights and uses for our rotary tables.
The table T-slots are identical to those used on the Sherline mill and lathe, making the vast line of Sherline tooling available for use with this product. Two hold-down clamps and T-nuts are provided with the table. Also included is an adapter that allows Sherline’s 3- and 4-jaw chucks to be screwed directly to the rotary table. An optional right-angle attachment is available (P/N 3701) to mount the table in the vertical position to increase its versatility further. With the table mounted vertically, an optional adjustable right-angle tailstock (P/N 3702) can be mounted to the mill table. It is used to support and stabilize the other end of long work held in a chuck or otherwise attached to the rotary table.
The basic version, M-035.50 rotating table, is equipped with a micrometer drive and a zero-backlash magnetic coupling. The micrometer provides a positioning range of ±9.5 degrees.
One of the most popular uses for a Rotary Table in the small workshop is to quickly and efficiently round the ends of coupling rods and similar components. Worm gearing is not required, being too slow in operation. Positive stops are, however, vital to prevent the cutter exceeding its intended limits.
Consequently, GHT"s design offers a small, compact Rotary Table of Ø3 3/4", having substantial bearing support. Positive stops are provided to limit angular movement. The dimensions of the cast iron base enable easy mounting onto the lathe vertical-slide or cross slide. The Adapter Casting (HK1185) gives options for mounting this item on a milling machine.
This kit includes the base casting, close grained extruded iron for the table and all necessary steel and fasteners. Hemingway drawings and notes are included of course.
Our product range includes single and multiple axes, tilt/rotating tables, and indexing and high-speed spindles. Additionally, we offer customized solution tables for customer requests or OEM projects.
Even for EDM machines that have been in use for decades, we will work with you to determine the ideal rotary indexing table and/or rotating/indexing spindle solution.
Our state-of-the-art rotary indexing tables and customizable reference and clamping systems provide endless application possibilities and highly efficient solutions.
Years ago, before I learned CNC, I owned a Phase II 8″ horizontal/vertical rotary table that I purchased from Kap Pullen’s Getmachinetools.com store. He has them at a good price, BTW, and he’s a darned nice fellow to deal with as well as being a frequent HSM contributor. Anyway, its a nice little table, but I hadn’t done a whole lot with it for quite a while after purchasing it. As is so often the case, one day, a project landed on my doorstep and I was glad to have it.
Before I could get started, however, I had to make some accessories for it. Basically, I needed some T-Nuts to fit the table, as well as a little fixture that makes it easy to hold a plate up off the table through a hole in the center so you can machine it. The latter, what I call a “plate machining fixture”, was inspired by something similar I saw the Widgitmaster of CNCZone fame using to make Dremel clamps for his mini-router:
I turned the round spigot using the 4-jaw on the lathe. I’m making the fixture out of MIC-6 aluminum plate, which is pre-ground very flat on the sides. This is a 5 inch by 3 inch piece. I’ve clamped it to the rotab using my T-nuts and the regular mill clamps and step blocks. It is sitting on parallels to make sure I don’t cut into the table. You can also see how I’ve clamped the rotary table to the mill table using a big cast iron V-block I have. You can never have to many blocks with precision faces hanging around!
Having a 4-jaw chuck on your rotary table is mighty handy! Because it’s a 4-jaw, you can dial in the workpiece by adjusting the jaws until it is perfectly concentric with the table’s axis of rotation. The best way is to make an adapter plate that attaches to the back of the chuck in the same way that your lathe does so you can exchange lathe tooling with the rotab. Here is an example:
For the example, the chuck is threaded onto the adaptor plate, and then the holes in the adapter plate’s flange are used to bolt down to T-nuts on the table.
In my case, I bought a 4-jaw from Shars brand new, and simply drilled some through-holes in the chuck to mount to the table directly without an adapter plate:
First, you want to make sure your part is properly centered on the table. To do that, I clamp the table down on the mill table (no special place is needed), put my Indicol indicator holder on the mill spindle, and find some round feature on the part to indicate on. For example, on the plate milling fixture above, indicate on the round boss, or on the center hole. Spin the table and bump the part in until spinning the table doesn’t move the indicator.
Second, locate the center of rotation directly under the mill spindle. You can simply use the X and Y table handwheels to do this. Use that Indicol to indicate off of a circular feature you want centered under the spindle. Turn the indicol around on the spindle and adjust the handwheels until the indicator stays put relative to the spindle position. A Blake Coaxial indicator will make this last even simpler.
When you’re rounding partially by cranking a part around on the rotary table, it’s really easy to go a little too far and screw things up. The answer is to drill the end points to make the exact stopping point on the rotab a lot less sensitive:
Centering with a Blake indicator is really fast, but what if you don’t have a Blake, or worse, what if your mill is too small to accomodate one? Here is a nice solution I found on a German site. This fellow has made an ER collect fixture for his rotary table, and has taken care that when installed on the table, the axis of the collet is aligned with the table’s axis. He can then place a dowel or other straight pin in the collet and line up until it will go into a similarly sized collet on the spindle. Nice trick! It’s similar to how Widgitmaster showed me to align a drill chuck on a QCTP to the lathe centerline with a dowel pin held in the lathe chuck.
Our direct drive rotary tables provide high torque and are easy to integrate. They contain high-energy magnets in a simplified mechanical design and drive loads directly without the need for a transmission mechanism or gearbox. It allows customers to build them right into a drive system for flexible placement and integration with cooling pipes and cables, for example.
We supply a wide range of frameless motors, and our adjustable motors include an optical encoder, scale, bearing and housing. Given our selection, it can be challenging to choose the best direct drive motor for your project. Our engineers prefer to help you find the right rotary table for your requirements.
Our most popular rotary motor, the AXD series is characterized by a slim, compact "pancake" design with high peak and continuous torque despite the motor"s quite small form factor.Direct drive and brushless motor
The ACD series is a set of ironless rotary tables. This motor is cogging-free and features high-resolution optical encoder feedback and low speed variability. This permanent magnet motor is equally suited for either low or high speed applications.Zero cogging coreless motor
The hydrostatic rotary tables from ZOLLERN impress with their durability and a high concentricity and axial runout accuracy. Thanks to the ZOLLERN bearing clearance compensator, the optimal pocket pressure is set automatically and independently of production tolerances. The freedom from friction at low speeds prevents slip stick and therefore allows maximum positioning accuracy.
A rotary table is a precision work positioning device used in metalworking. It enables the operator to drill or cut work at exact intervals around a fixed (usually horizontal or vertical) axis. Some rotary tables allow the use of index plates for indexing operations, and some can also be fitted with dividing plates that enable regular work positioning at divisions for which indexing plates are not available. A rotary fixture used in this fashion is more appropriately called a dividing head (indexing head).
The table shown is a manually operated type. Powered tables under the control of CNC machines are now available, and provide a fourth axis to CNC milling machines. Rotary tables are made with a solid base, which has provision for clamping onto another table or fixture. The actual table is a precision-machined disc to which the work piece is clamped (T slots are generally provided for this purpose). This disc can rotate freely, for indexing, or under the control of a worm (handwheel), with the worm wheel portion being made part of the actual table. High precision tables are driven by backlash compensating duplex worms.
The ratio between worm and table is generally 40:1, 72:1 or 90:1 but may be any ratio that can be easily divided exactly into 360°. This is for ease of use when indexing plates are available. A graduated dial and, often, a vernier scale enable the operator to position the table, and thus the work affixed to it with great accuracy.
Rotary tables are most commonly mounted "flat", with the table rotating around a vertical axis, in the same plane as the cutter of a vertical milling machine. An alternate setup is to mount the rotary table on its end (or mount it "flat" on a 90° angle plate), so that it rotates about a horizontal axis. In this configuration a tailstock can also be used, thus holding the workpiece "between centers."
With the table mounted on a secondary table, the workpiece is accurately centered on the rotary table"s axis, which in turn is centered on the cutting tool"s axis. All three axes are thus coaxial. From this point, the secondary table can be offset in either the X or Y direction to set the cutter the desired distance from the workpiece"s center. This allows concentric machining operations on the workpiece. Placing the workpiece eccentrically a set distance from the center permits more complex curves to be cut. As with other setups on a vertical mill, the milling operation can be either drilling a series of concentric, and possibly equidistant holes, or face or end milling either circular or semicircular shapes and contours.
with the addition of a compound table on top of the rotary table, the user can move the center of rotation to anywhere on the part being cut. This enables an arc to be cut at any place on the part.
Additionally, if converted to stepper motor operation, with a CNC milling machine and a tailstock, a rotary table allows many parts to be made on a mill that otherwise would require a lathe.
Rotary tables have many applications, including being used in the manufacture and inspection process of important elements in aerospace, automation and scientific industries. The use of rotary tables stretches as far as the film and animation industry, being used to obtain accuracy and precision in filming and photography.
You would use an elevating table when you require free standing vertical travel with a platform shelf. The Velmex Elevating Tables are more rigid then turning a linear stage into a vertical axis, making them more stable. However, if you do want longer travel distance or a narrower or wider frame, almost all Velmex linear stages can be converted to an elevating table with the addition of a base plate and a platform shelf. They can be engineered to provide added rigidity, support and stability.
Velmex Elevating Tables are made of Velmex world renown UniSlide assemblies. They use a deeper base under the dovetail ways for added support and feature an oversize base for added stability in the vertical position. A right angle platform is mounted to the carriage that can be mounted in the inverse to add versatility to the travel envelope.
Yes, UniSlides can be mounted together in XY, XZ, XYZ configurations. Mounting UniSlide assemblies in multi-axis systems requires the use of adapter plates and brackets. They also can be combined with Velmex Rotary Tables and our other linear stages to make custom systems to meet a wide range of applications. See UniSlide Options and Accessories for more information on the plates and adapters. Also see our examples pages for images featuring Elevating Tables combined with other Velmex products.
I purchased this to increase the capacity of my Harbor Freight Mini Lathe. Using an adapter from Little Machine Shop I am able to mount larger pieces than with the original 3" chuck that came with the lathe, But more importantly I am now able to use the full 3/4" bore through the headstock spindle, allowing greater application of this machine tool.