Need opinions on a rotary table

[choffman]

I have an opportunity to buy a like-new/used-once yuasa 550-050 10" rotary table for around 250 bucks. I own a sieg X3 mill.

Is this just too much RT for my mill? If so, what is the maximum size I should be looking at? I think the table size on the X3 is 6X21 ish

I'd really like to find a nice 6" or 8" max, because I'd rather not have to sling a 100 lbs RT around; but this is a really good deal on this 10"

All opinions are appreciated and welcome

Craig

 

[Mirage_Man]

Have you seen it in person cause a 10" RT is HUGE. It probably weighs darn near what your mill does.

 

[precisionworks]

a 10" RT is HUGE

The Yuasa website says that the base is a little over 11" wide. For your machine, a 6" RT would be a good size.

 

[precisionworks]

Look at this one ... missing the handle & dirty, so it will go cheap ... and the size is right.

http://cgi.ebay.com/6-ROTARY-TABLE-...QQptZBI_Tool_Work_Holding?hash=item3ca659b8a5

 

[Mirage_Man]

The pictures are pretty lousy. I can't tell if it's dirty or rusty. Also it looks like they cut off the mounting area on the front of it?

Look at this one ... missing the handle & dirty, so it will go cheap ... and the size is right.

http://cgi.ebay.com/6-ROTARY-TABLE-...QQptZBI_Tool_Work_Holding?hash=item3ca659b8a5

 

[gadget_lover]

That one looks like it was optimized for use in vertical mode. The extra lug may have gotten in the way of tooling????

BTW, the specs for the X3 show only 10 inches between the spindle and table, so keep that in mind when choosing an RT. A 6 inch diameter table can be very thin or very tall. A tall table will limit the tooling that you can use.

Daniel

 

[wquiles]

I concur that the 10" is "way too big" for your setup. I have a Yuasa 8", and with the added weight of the 6" chuck I have on it, it is very difficult to move around. Even though my knee mill has 20" of Z travel, the weight would have been way too much - I am glad when I followed Barry's advice to stick with an 8" RT

 

[precisionworks]

Someone DID cut off the second horizontal mounting lug :shakehead

It wouldn't be hard to mill one & weld it back on, but it would take some time.

 

[choffman]

Well, you guys are all echoing the thoughts that have been bouncing around in my head. I guess I'm glad no one helped me to justify a 4.5-5 hour drive to Atlanta, GA to buy this thing. Here is the CL post in case there is someone on CPF looking for a deal like this:

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/bfs/1411036294.html

I have seen that yuasa RT on ebay. It has been a completed listing at least once, maybe twice. It not only has had the mounting lug ground off, it has one of the table clamp lugs cut in half as well. It is still worth consideration based on the price it will probably sell for. I see someone has finally bid on it.

I don't currently have an immediate need for a RT. I have had the need twice before though. Years ago (when I was green and had no tools) I worked for an electrician that told me he would only let me borrow each of his tools three times. He said if you need it more than three times you need to buy one of your own. That has always stuck with me throughout the years as a good rule of thumb for the debate of rental/borrow as opposed to purchase.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll just be a little more paitient. Being broke makes paitience easier. If anyone here has a RT that's collecting dust and they'd like to let it go, please let me know.

 

[65535]

Get the 10" and mount your mill on it. I'd probably get that 10" to have at that price, and either grow into it with a bigger machine or flip it later for a few bucks profit.