Tilting Table any good?

[thisguyjohn]

At my job we have a new Mazak CNC Mill and upper management has given the okay to spend money on whatever is needed (this is their first CNC mill). I have angle blocks and were not the most precision place (it’s a fab shop with 3 CNCs) but as a machinist I like to be as precise as possible for my own satisfaction. I have a job coming up that has a few small angles to create a notch which angle blocks will be annoying to use.

Would an angle table be any good? If so, what do you use? Seems like they’re much cheaper than I expected which has me nervous. MSC has a few for $1000> but I’d like to get a good one and not waste money.

Something like this?

Interstate Tilting Angle Table w/ Swivel Base, 14" Length - 76-012-4

Offering a huge selection of industrial tool sales online. Find over 100,000 metalworking products, precision measuring tools, power tools & accessories.

www.penntoolco.com

Thanks!

 

[Mtndew]

This style here, is the biggest hunk of shit on the planet. I know from experience.
https://www.mscdirect.com/product/d...p8EL_136Ht8GnUhBrj6KpJFl_sk4veCfJ6FgUHeDXKqJ0

If you can make your own, I would go that route so you can make one that doesn't chatter when an end mill looks at it. Should be rather easy since you're in a fab shop.

 

[thisguyjohn]

This style here, is the biggest hunk of shit on the planet. I know from experience.
https://www.mscdirect.com/product/d...p8EL_136Ht8GnUhBrj6KpJFl_sk4veCfJ6FgUHeDXKqJ0

If you can make your own, I would go that route so you can make one that doesn't chatter when an end mill looks at it. Should be rather easy since you're in a fab shop.

Yeah that does not look rigid at all. He wants to spend a couple grand on something and mulling over adding a 5th axis to this mill but obviously that’ll be real expensive.

 

[Clive603]

This style here, is the biggest hunk of shit on the planet. I know from experience.
https://www.mscdirect.com/product/d...p8EL_136Ht8GnUhBrj6KpJFl_sk4veCfJ6FgUHeDXKqJ0

If you can make your own, I would go that route so you can make one that doesn't chatter when an end mill looks at it. Should be rather easy since you're in a fab shop.

Bit of a generalisation I think. The one I have of that type works well enough on my Bridgeport. Which obviously doesn't have the capability to put really serious cutting forces onto the job. Guess that, like everything, its down to how well the thing is made. Mine is UK made, unbranded and probably 1960'2 - 1970's vintage. About 2ft long by 6 or 8 inches wide.

Realistically super rigidity needs something with a pivot at one end and solid support at the other, sine table style. My two axis sine table is a get out of jail device on certain small jobs but the pivoting arm supports severely limit the size of cut it can withstand. Something I can live with since it comes out about every other year.

Clive

 

[13engines]

This style here, is the biggest hunk of shit on the planet. I know from experience.
https://www.mscdirect.com/product/d...p8EL_136Ht8GnUhBrj6KpJFl_sk4veCfJ6FgUHeDXKqJ0

I've used that one for decades. No real problems. Not that I'm doing tons of work or heavy cutting on it, but still. I think I replaced the clamp bolts which were crap right out of the box, and machined a t-slot edge or two. (Can't recall the details.)

You might want to get one with a rotation crank on it, so you don't have to get the pre-friction just right while setting the angles(s). Nebver mind... I see your choice has one.

If compound angles are not part of the usual work I'd ditch the rotary base. Will only add to lack of rigidity.

 

[thisguyjohn]

I've used that one for decades. No real problems. Not that I'm doing tons of work or heavy cutting on it, but still. I think I replaced the clamp bolts which were crap right out of the box, and machined a t-slot edge or two. (Can't recall the details.)

You might want to get one with a rotation crank on it, so you don't have to get the pre-friction just right while setting the angles(s).

I adjusted my original post with a link of a table. It looks rigid and a decent size.

 

[Mtndew]

I adjusted my original post with a link of a table. It looks rigid and a decent size.

That one definitely looks 1000x better than the $500 import crap that I used.

 

[sfriedberg]

I am with Clive603. Make a sine-table style fixture. You can make one far cheaper than you can buy one of the same size and easily meet fab-shop tolerances for the two critical dimensions. When I bought my large Van Norman, I got a T-slotted sine-table with a top something like 18"x24". I haven't had it out of the rack in years, but it is stout and easily large enough to mount a full-size vise or a dividing head on.