Model Engineers’ Workshop – August 2019

August 2019 43

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Rotary Table

press a centre hole in the MDF.
To lock the table a post of aluminium is
fi tted into a T-slot, cross drilled and tapped
M8. An M8 cap head is modifi ed with a
T-bar and a soft aluminium pad fi tted,
photo 31.
That’s about it for the construction. In
practice it works exceptionally well.
The job in hand was to machine a pair of

expansion links, photo 32. To save time

marking out I print out exact size drawings

of the part required and glue them to the

material, in this case ¼ x 1 ¼” gauge plate.

The rotary table is centred under the quill.

The Y axis is moved over 4^9 / 16 ”. Place the

blank on the table and bring the quill down

so that the point of the centre presses

down onto the blank at the required

position. Screw the blank to the table. Raise

the quill a little and turn the table back and

forth and set the stops. Drill the blank at

each end then machine away with an end

mill, photo 33. It’s surprisingly easy to turn.

As a comparison I have placed all 3 rotary

table on the mill, photo 34. Its always

satisfying to make a bit of kit that works

and in this case it works very well. ■

26

27 28

29 30

Drill and tap four M6 holes in the face of the disc

Mark out an eleven circle on the MDF Drill and tap for the stop bar

Machining a slot in the stop Adjustable stops and operating handle