Understand a Rotary Table with Top Cross Slide

[rgsparber]

A master machinist friend of mine, Gerry Goldberg, presented a talk on how to use a rotary table with a top cross slide. This is not to be confused with a rotary table with bottom cross slide. I took lots of notes and wrote this article:

http://rick.sparber.org/rtcs.pdf

[DIYer]

Good information, Rick. Something to mention to my machinist friends.

[rgsparber]

With so much CNC being used, the old methods like compound rotary tables have fallen out of favor. Yet it is amazing what can be done with these attachments.

[Paul Jones]

Rick,

Thank you for documenting the basics and explaining the logic for this type of XY table configuration with a rotary table. It is easy to get confused so sometimes I write on the table and dials with a marking pen to show which way is in-out, right-left relative to the milling tool and rotation. I have not tried manually machining curved spokes on flywheels but like your article on milling openings, I have read the techniques and would probably do it the first time in wood or plastic to make sure I really understood the movements.

Thanks for publishing this (and adding the Copyleft protection for sharing),
Paul

[rgsparber]

You are most welcome. Yes, it is certainly easy to get turned around with all of these motions. Testing out with wood is a very good idea. In CNC, they often use "machine-able wax" to test out the program. Saves a lot of tool crashes.

[kbalch]

This thread has been moved to the Must Read subforum. Congrats (and thanks) to Rick for making such a valuable contribution!