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Rotary table for sieg SX2P
- Thread starter MOA
- Start date
- Replies 25
- Views 6,546
cranium
Hot Rolled
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2013
- Location
- Crockers Nub, NC
4" Sherline rotary table is well made. You can buy a programmable version of it as well.
trevj
Titanium
- Joined
- May 17, 2005
- Location
- Interior British Columbia
Given the website owner's dislike of cheap hobby grade import tools, and his feelings that they are best spoken of, elsewhere, I figure that you either did not read the discussion guidelines, or are pretty much simply pushing the point and are trying to get your thread to vanish...http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general/machinery-discussion-guidelines-137724/
Now, had you asked about a rotary table to fit a mill with a table of X and Y dimensions.... without mentioning any names...
At least that way you won't draw any undue fire...
You have very little space to work with, when all is said and done. The Sherline is a nice compact unit. Take a look at the 5 inch Emco table too. With an M. Not Enco, the sellers of Asian import tools. Austrian made, very compact for it's table size. Usually not very cheap either, but a real step up in quality. To get similar size in an Asian import, the table eats considerably more head room, which is limited already, and unfortunately, they chose not to clone any of the really compact R/T's that have been made (albeit, even less commonly available and far more expensive than the Emco unit).
Many of the other similarly sized rotary tables, such as the ones provided by South Bend, had the worm and worm gear threads exposed, leaving them subject to chips being ground through them. Inexpensive to build, but not ideal in use. And the prices are driven by guys that want to 'collect the whole set' rather than buying them as a practical tool.
If you can, go in to a place that has your mill in stock and see for yourself how the tables will fit.
Cheers
Trev
Now, had you asked about a rotary table to fit a mill with a table of X and Y dimensions.... without mentioning any names...
At least that way you won't draw any undue fire...You have very little space to work with, when all is said and done. The Sherline is a nice compact unit. Take a look at the 5 inch Emco table too. With an M. Not Enco, the sellers of Asian import tools. Austrian made, very compact for it's table size. Usually not very cheap either, but a real step up in quality. To get similar size in an Asian import, the table eats considerably more head room, which is limited already, and unfortunately, they chose not to clone any of the really compact R/T's that have been made (albeit, even less commonly available and far more expensive than the Emco unit).
Many of the other similarly sized rotary tables, such as the ones provided by South Bend, had the worm and worm gear threads exposed, leaving them subject to chips being ground through them. Inexpensive to build, but not ideal in use. And the prices are driven by guys that want to 'collect the whole set' rather than buying them as a practical tool.
If you can, go in to a place that has your mill in stock and see for yourself how the tables will fit.
Cheers
Trev
Last edited:
trevj
Titanium
- Joined
- May 17, 2005
- Location
- Interior British Columbia
Y'all don't have to go away, y'just gotta ask without mentioning them things as is unmentionable around these parts.
Pretty much gotta talk about the machining, not the machine.
Cheers
Trev
Pretty much gotta talk about the machining, not the machine.
Cheers
Trev
GGaskill
Titanium
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2001
- Location
- Central AZ
Since gunsmithing is not large scale production manufacture in most cases, we ignore that restriction; well, the moderator does.
traditional-tools
Diamond
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2007
- Location
- West Coast
Well, the fact of the matter is that most people on PM do not use that class of machine, and anyone who is using it is better suited on another forum, for their own benefit.
This has nothing to do with how you as the moderator view those machines, or how great your tolerance is for them. It has to do with the majority of people that frequent this site taking more pride in their work than to use something like a mini-mill.
moonlight machine
Diamond
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2007
- Location
- marysville ohio
Why do people buy a cheap pos mill for gun work? They are not at all suited for accurately milling steel, Is that not what it will be used for? If you are making aluminum parts for R/C cars or the like it might be OK.
traditional-tools
Diamond
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2007
- Location
- West Coast
I think the answer is simple. They don't know any better.
That's how I got one, and it taught me to know better. When you see them, they resemble a milling machine, it's like a carrot in front of your face.
There are a lot of people that don't know better in this world, it seems many of them want to make firearms. I think it's the same reason that most people that call themselves a gunsmith only fit parts together. The majority of them aren't machinists, so a POS suites them fine.
How would you like to take a $5000 rifle into a shop to have a guy work on it and the guy has a mini-mill in the back? ROTFLMAO
moonlight machine
Diamond
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2007
- Location
- marysville ohio
I think the answer is simple. They don't know any better.
That's how I got one, and it taught me to know better. When you see them, they resemble a milling machine, it's like a carrot in front of your face.
There are a lot of people that don't know better in this world, it seems many of them want to make firearms. I think it's the same reason that most people that call themselves a gunsmith only fit parts together. The majority of them aren't machinists, so a POS suites them fine.
How would you like to take a $5000 rifle into a shop to have a guy work on it and the guy has a mini-mill in the back? ROTFLMAO
The only one that works on my 5000.00 rifle is me!
milotrain
Plastic
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2010
- Location
- Los Angeles
Everyone has to start somewhere. You had one such machine, did you take pride in your work when you had it? Did buying a better machine magically make you take pride in your work?
trevj
Titanium
- Joined
- May 17, 2005
- Location
- Interior British Columbia
I have a collection of Model Engineer magazines that goes back close to a hundred years.
The machines that were foisted off on the Hobby guys were truly crap up until very recently in time.
Yet there are examples of truly marvelous work done on them.
The guy operating it, makes the parts, the machine limits the speed that you can remove metal. A fella that learns to fully utilize a crappy little machine is like as not, going to have a very happy transition to a larger one, as he or she will already have a pretty solid handle on speeds and feeds, as well as adapting the cutting to the conditions.
I know why folks buy those machines. They are an affordable way in to a interesting hobby.
I have seen enough hack work done on good machines too, to not get too tied up over what tools a craftsman chooses to use.
Cheers
Trev
Therein is the difference between a "machinist" and a "gunsmith", at least in the modern terminology. A machinist completes at least a 4 year apprenticeship and has at least a knowledge of how all machine tools work, even if he has not had the occasion to run that particular one.
A "gunsmith" goes to a 2 year hack community college and learns all kinds of "black magic" bullshit and then comes here and asks what lathe he should buy for gunsmith work. He has to ask this in spite of the fact that he is supposedly a "gunsmith" who should be capable of any firearm work, metal or wood. It seems that the emphasis is on voodoo chambering BS and not much else.
A "gunsmith" goes to a 2 year hack community college and learns all kinds of "black magic" bullshit and then comes here and asks what lathe he should buy for gunsmith work. He has to ask this in spite of the fact that he is supposedly a "gunsmith" who should be capable of any firearm work, metal or wood. It seems that the emphasis is on voodoo chambering BS and not much else.
GGaskill
Titanium
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2001
- Location
- Central AZ
I think the answer is simple. They don't know any better.
I think the answer is they don't want to spend a ton of money on a big machine for something they don't really know how long their interest will last. Or they don't have to space for large machines.
There are plenty of other places on Don's site for professional machinists or CNC operators. Why they come here to piss on someone escapes me.
I think the answer is they don't want to spend a ton of money on a big machine for something they don't really know how long their interest will last. Or they don't have to space for large machines.
There are plenty of other places on Don's site for professional machinists or CNC operators. Why they come here to piss on someone escapes me.
traditional-tools
Diamond
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2007
- Location
- West Coast
Actually I took pride in my work before I bought it. I mistakenly believed a toolmaker who told me the machine could do what I wanted it for, and it did kinda/sorta. The same toolmaker used one to slot brass for the same purpose I wanted it for.
I lost a lot of respect for that person, and asked how he could tolerate using such a crappy machine. He liked it so much he upgraded to a bigger POS. He went from an HF POS to a GrizzlyBerry POS.
Buying a better machine made me more comfortable owning a machine that better suited my taste, and could perform the task better than the POS I was misled to believe could. Some people would be happy with the POS, ignorance is bliss. I found one short coming after another, and it frustrated me to no end. The machine I got after was more capable and allowed me to learn much more.
milotrain
Plastic
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2010
- Location
- Los Angeles
That's all there is to say. The rest is your subjective experience. When I work at the shop I use a large Clarke knee mill. I like it a lot better than my X3, but life has not allowed me such a toy at home. I barely have room to move in my home shop and currently my time/money is better spent making what I can make on the X3 than totally resorting my shop to fit a bridgeport. I hope to buy a house in the next few years and one of the first things that will join me is a proper knee mill.
traditional-tools
Diamond
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2007
- Location
- West Coast
I think everyone wants to spend as little as they can to get the job done, nothing new there. There is a limit to how little one can spend and do decent work, and I guess some people would be happy to have a mini-mill...caveat emptor.
On the contrary, most come here because this is a site that is known to provide knowledgeable information. Many of those people offer and share that information, and should be respected as such. It is the people of this site that make it what it is, and PM is the way it is because of those very people.
I think you are mistaken to believe they come here to p!$$ on anyone because they give honest an response to a person asking for advice. This forum is a part of PM, it is not in a stratosphere by itself. You might want to get a clue.
Yes, people here on PM can be brutally honest, and for those that don't care for brutal honesty there are other forums where they sugar coat the information and make it sound acceptable for their Grandmother's ears. Unfortunately that is not how a machine shop or even a gun shop operates. It's not just this site that people are negative towards mini-mills, there are many people that don't like them. There's a reason they have the reputation they do. Food for thought.
traditional-tools
Diamond
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2007
- Location
- West Coast
That's your own choice, not anyone else's. There are plenty of small mills that you could have gotten but the X3 was your choice.
milotrain
Plastic
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2010
- Location
- Los Angeles
You have a tenacious grasp of the obvious.
9100
Diamond
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2004
- Location
- Webster Groves, MO
This discussion reminds me of one back when I was 20 years old, still living with my parents, and building VHF radio receivers in my bedroom. I had very limited finances and equipment, but was still doing some fairly advanced work. I was employed by a company that made missile guidance components and the company guru was a German PHD, complete with German accent and attitude. When I told him about my experiments, his reply was that it required thousands of dollars worth of laboratory equipment to do receiver work. I said "Then should I stop?" No answer.
Bill
Bill
