Peter tells us that in Europe machines with plain angle tables are more sought after and bring a higher price than those fitted with the "2038" style tables
Me, I have several of the "tool makers" tables (FP4NC, FP3NC and the rare small FP2NC plus one for my FP3 manual machine....
I love them...IMO the best accessory that Deckel ever provided.....But that opinion is based on my use.....
Rarely do much heavy cutting, and for my work the ability to use the table to bring into tram odd shaped parts is worth any loss of rigidity.
As to staying in tram...maybe my sample is somewhat skewed....i move my tables often to adjust tram to the work and as such i do need to reset things from time to time,
but really can't say that they need much attention unless there is a crash or you move them deliberately.
Uni tables are also nice in that one can dial out any forward tilt or nod in the "Y" axis which happens in time from wear to all Deckels....
Nice plus is that the universal tables also have center through holes that allow work on long shafts etc.....Further, you can see if things are moving...the tables are setup with indicators set to zero when the table is in tram,and rotary at "zero" so any movement shows on the dials..
There are a few drawbacks to the universal tables...greatest is that in order to rotate the table 360* it must be mounted higher than the plain table, Loss of headroom in the order of about
4.5" on an FP4NC. The factory fitted an extended hard strop and shorter travel "Z" limit cams to prevent the possibility of crashing the vertical head into the table surface....
On my FP4NC i have omitted that extended hard stop and travel limit cam (i have mine setup with the standard table limit setup)
Gives me max travel, but i have to watch for any interference to the table top with the vertical head.....Could be dangerous i guess, but for me its worth taking the extra care in watching my travels...
Other down side is that the table work surface is reduced over the standard angle table ...On the FP4NC the 2038 top measures 17x28...While the standard angle table comes in at 21.5 x 17.5"
Cheers Ross