This is something I have been mulling around for some time, and it will probably take a while to finish.
Some time ago I scrapped a cheap 150mm rotary table by expecting it to last when I was machining on it. The forces sheared the gears, but I kept the table section.
I also had a 90 degree worm drive gearbox.
So it seemed to bee a good idea to stick them together for an addition to my CNC plasma to cut round tube/pipe. So I started on the weekend. Shortened the shaft machined a bore in the table, got it wrong went oversize by a few thou, so knurled the end of the shaft and pressed it into the bore with some good stud lock for good measure. The next step will be to mount a stepper motor to the worm drive, then sit back and do a bit of design work I probably should have done from the outset.
I still have the tail stock centre for the table so that should allow for some lengths of tube to be held as on a faceplate and tail stock in a lathe? I will also need to make some clamps for the face to hold ends of tube securely.
I am hoping that the finished article could be similar to a lathe where the cutter is replaced by the plasma torch with X axis, Y axis, (for square tube) and Z axis travel (for different diameters) and rotary movements of the tube.
But it is a way off yet.
Adrian
Some time ago I scrapped a cheap 150mm rotary table by expecting it to last when I was machining on it. The forces sheared the gears, but I kept the table section.
I also had a 90 degree worm drive gearbox.
So it seemed to bee a good idea to stick them together for an addition to my CNC plasma to cut round tube/pipe. So I started on the weekend. Shortened the shaft machined a bore in the table, got it wrong went oversize by a few thou, so knurled the end of the shaft and pressed it into the bore with some good stud lock for good measure. The next step will be to mount a stepper motor to the worm drive, then sit back and do a bit of design work I probably should have done from the outset.
I still have the tail stock centre for the table so that should allow for some lengths of tube to be held as on a faceplate and tail stock in a lathe? I will also need to make some clamps for the face to hold ends of tube securely.
I am hoping that the finished article could be similar to a lathe where the cutter is replaced by the plasma torch with X axis, Y axis, (for square tube) and Z axis travel (for different diameters) and rotary movements of the tube.
But it is a way off yet.
Adrian
