Powering Rotary Table

[Goldigger]

Has anyone powered a rotary table?
I'm not looking to CNC it, i just want to be able to spin it with a motor..I make a lot of deep holes on it so winding it can be a bit of a chore.
I realise sticking a motor on wil stop me being able to index holes..so hopefully there is a way of either manually turning it with the motor on, or simply having to remove the motor and replace the handle.

I'm aware of the division master but it adds up to more than i really wanted to spend..
http://medw.co.uk/wiki/index.php?page=DivisionMaster

TIA

 

[Gedeon Spilett]

hi,
I did that with my rotary table on my X2 mill. It was for "turning " on my X2 a large bronze flywheel a little bit too large for my lathe! It worked a treat using recycled stuff only: a small motor with a reducing gear and a variable speed output, then a plastic belt simply turning the handwheel. amazing to watch (look mum, no hands). However, for an indexing and drilling setup, things may be less convenient since you probably have to lock and release the table for each hole.

 

[Tin Falcon]

well the whole purpose of s rotary table is to precicly contol the movement of the table for a determined angle or divisions of a circle. remove the handle and the verier you lose control of measurement. The cheapest way to control movement on a rotary table is with a stepper motor and some type of computer control.

You could simply set up a single axis cnc. You do not need a lot of power or speed for a RT. an older computer can probably be scrounged if you do not have one. You can download any of the three main cnc contol programs for free and f or a single axis not likely need to get a licence emc2 is public domain anyway. a power supply can also likely be scrounged good steppers can be had off ebay for $25 each and you will need a control board. but should not need a break out board.may seem like overkill but you can control it with a few button pushes.
Tin

 

[MachineTom]

The handwheel of my RT is held on with a nut, Socket, sq/hex adapter, cordless drill, great for end mill hole cutter.

 

[chucketn]

Golddigger, take a look here. Steve Ward developed a pic based controller to run a stepper motor to cnc a rotary table. I am working on building this setup. My hurdle is making a PCB board, I have already programmed the pic, made the adapter for the stepper motor to the RT. A big thread on the construction here. This would, I think provide you with the powered RT, plus give to the added benefit of dividing capability.

Chuck in E. TN

 

[poppy_au]

Hi
I have built the Division master and could not be without it.
http://medw.co.uk/wiki/index.php?page=DivisionMaster
I have a Vertex 4" rotary table on my X3 mill. It has been big enough so far but see that a 6" would fit the mill as well.
I have a small MK2 stub with Ø20 cylindrical on the top and M8 internal treads. Than I have made a backplate for my 4" chuck that fit the stub.I also use the stub to connect various fixtures depending on the job.
What I realized was that the MK2 center in the table was running 0.3 mm eccentric. Than I made a new stub and use a 6 mm mill to mill it centric. Than I marked the stub and the table in order to put it back on its correct position.

 

[Blogwitch]

A complete warts and all of Division Master AND how to modify a RT so that there is no backlash.

http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=4040.0

Modding another type of RT

http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=4730.msg52166#msg52166


John

 

[HS93]

I built this with some help (a lot ) from Steve Ward, the unit went together very easy iI used a cheap driver board of eBay and a case from RS I spent more time on the case than what was inside I was also luck to have a kind soul convert my RT for me, he goes by the name of Soggy I anyway you can see the fantastic results above, thank you John, hear are two pictures of the unit.
Peter

 

[///]

For anyone else interested in the comments here mentioning Steve Ward's PIC rotary table indexer, I have found his original thread on CNCZONE.
It is 39 pages long and, unfortunately, he has not updated his first four-year-old post... grrr.
Trying to find if he has a webpage somewhere with up to date files and info. Failing that, I'll just have to weed through all 39 pages :-[

 

[firebird]

Hi Goldigger

I have just powered my leadscrew on the cheap without cnc, should work on a rotary table too. You can see it here

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=16080.0

Cheers

Rich