Which size rotary table to buy

[GerryinBelleRiver]

I have been looking for a rotary table for a while and have been waffling back and forth between a 4 inch and a 6 inch. Neither of these sizes seem to be available on the used market.

The bed on my mill is 6" x24" so not a lot of space. I am worried a 6 inch may eat up a lot of room.

The other issue is price. The 4" imports can be had for around $100 while it is hard to find a 6" under $300. I do have a couple of 4" chucks and a
3 1/2" that could be adapted for either size rotary table. I was also thinking that if I found the 4" table too small for something I could always make a fixture plate.

Anyway, I think a few guys here have smaller mills and am interested in their experiences and comments

Thanks
Gerry

 

[historicalarms]

On a small milI I would certainly recommend the smaller one but not because of table size, more to accommodate the limited space between the spindle & table.... sometimes no room left for the workpiece or cutting attachment after TR mounting.

 

[DPittman]

I also have a 6" mill table and have loose been keeping an eye out for a rotary table. It seems most of the recommendations I read has been to get a bigger RT to allow work to be fixed to it. As mentioned above spindle to table clearance can be an issue with a larger table.

 

[Janger]

There are a few threads on this topic in the forum.

 

[Mcgyver]

imo, get as large a one as you can (or can lift). The perpetual problem is having enough clamping space around the item. I milled a 4" circle in a piece of plate 7.5" wide yesterday and barely made all work on my 12" table.

 

[GerryinBelleRiver]

I have a max of 15" from the table at its lowest point to the quill

 

[PeterT]

Yes, like Janger says, do a forum search. Lots has been written including pictures. On smaller mills, the remaining head room to the spindle may be the more significant constraint factor depending on your machine & potentially what you may want to mount to it - meaning chuck, vise, tooling plate, the part itself.... Don't forget to factor the loss of headroom from above (drill/mill chuck, cutting tools etc.).

**sorry just missed your measurement post**

 

[YYCHM]

What mill do you have? 4" was too big for my mini-mill and 9" was too big for my RF30. I have a 6" on the RF30 now which seems to be about right.

 

[Tom Kitta]

Given that I owned all sorts of RT and now have 2 I would go for 6" in your case. Maybe 8" if you can find it. The bigger then better up to what you can lift for larger mills.
4" is cheap but very tiny, difference in size to a 6" is not 50% smaller but more like 3x smaller when side by side.

As for a fixture plate, there are limits to the size of such plate (as to non interference) as well as weight - even 6" RT is kind of "delicate" I cannot imagine how delicate a 4" is.

Of course it all depends on your budget and use - if you are making jewelry a 4" is what would work great. Remember that without chuck max clamp size of a 4" table is maybe a 2" square, maybe less - i.e. tiny stuff.

 

[Dusty]

I have been looking for a rotary table for a while and have been waffling back and forth between a 4 inch and a 6 inch. Neither of these sizes seem to be available on the used market.

The bed on my mill is 6" x24" so not a lot of space. I am worried a 6 inch may eat up a lot of room.

The other issue is price. The 4" imports can be had for around $100 while it is hard to find a 6" under $300. I do have a couple of 4" chucks and a
3 1/2" that could be adapted for either size rotary table. I was also thinking that if I found the 4" table too small for something I could always make a fixture plate.

Anyway, I think a few guys here have smaller mills and am interested in their experiences and comments

Thanks
Gerry

@GerryinBelleRiver, should this mean that you reside in Belle River, ON you are almost sitting on top of the US market place meaning Detroit for new and used RT's.

I have a BB Craftex CT129N hobby mill with table working surface of 20"x7" using a 6 inch RT with 5 inch diameter 3 jaw and 4 jaw chucks. Perhaps a bit of an over for my mill although it works out just fine.

I fully recommend your going to a 6 inch rotary table then keep you eyes open for low profile chucks whenever the opportunity comes along.

Just saying!

 

[GerryinBelleRiver]

Bill: You are correct as to location. In fact I picked up my Clausing 8520 mill in Michigan. Problem is except for a couple of weeks in December I haven't been able to cross the border since March 2020. Even if I could I don't think I would go right now given their Covid numbers. However, I do have some relatives in MI, maybe if I were to find a good used one I could ship it to them and pick it up in the future. Food for thought.

 

[Dusty]

Bill: You are correct as to location. In fact I picked up my Clausing 8520 mill in Michigan. Problem is except for a couple of weeks in December I haven't been able to cross the border since March 2020. Even if I could I don't think I would go right now given their Covid numbers. However, I do have some relatives in MI, maybe if I were to find a good used one I could ship it to them and pick it up in the future. Food for thought.

@GerryinBelleRiver, that's exactly what I would do and I fully agree with your comments on Covid (play safe). I was born in Hamilton, raised and educated in Stoney Creek with a couple of distant family shirt tail relations residing in the greater Belle River area. Small world me thinks.