Hello All,

I was wanting to get a 4" Rotary Table From LMS and I saw this one at Harbor Freight.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=47052

Does anyone have any experience with this? How is the quality?

Thanks
Bill

Because of its low price the quality will be, shall we say, variable. Coupled with the fact that there appears to be no backlash adjustment it may prove to be a small boat anchor. Beware.

Phil

Hello All,

I was wanting to get a 4" Rotary Table From LMS and I saw this one at Harbor Freight.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=47052

Does anyone have any experience with this? How is the quality?

Thanks
Bill

I have a Vertex 6 inch rotary table from http://www.hareandforbes.com.au/sample_2/home.php , just love it. Good quality and precision. I would not hesitate buying a rotary table as they open up a whole new world of machining. I don't know the brand you are referring to, perhaps a machine shop or trade college could advise.
I am making a small cnc router using a Roland Plotter and also a large one which is much more involved.

Bill (Tasmania, Australia)
lilly12@iprimus.com.au

Hey Bill,
I have that exact rotary table.
I only used it for one project so far, positioning the rotating head bracket so
that I could use the X2 limited y axis travel to cnc the part in stages.
It has a smooth movement and is fairly sturdy but there is a ton of backlash.
I would imagine milling while turning the handle would produce a lot of chatter
unless you ride the brake so to speak.
While it was locked down, it was very sturdy as I milled with a 3/8 endmill.
So if you just want it for positioning, it's a good buy.
If you want to mill with it rotating, expect some chatter.
If you want to use it as a 4th axis, forget it unless you mod it to reduce backlash.
Later Hoss

I have one of these over here in the UK and it's fine for PCD work and small milling jobs but as already said it's not the best but it does the job.

Hoss,

Do you know what the mods would be, after all you seem to be the mod man here! ;)

P.S. Yes I wanted it to rotate while cutting horizontally.

Thanks
Bill

I've never torn into it to see what would work, I'm sure others here have on similar rotary tables.
I'm sure I will sooner or later, because I also wanted to use it as a 4th axis.
The lathe/4th axis I made won't work the same as this would flat on the table like in the pics.
later Hoss

Check Out Grizzly.com. Not sure of the the quality,but Grizzlys stuff usually is pretty good for the price.

Hi Bill,
Save your money. I have one of those that actually has a stepper motor mounted
to create a 4th axis. The quality is so poor it's indescribable. There is no backlash adjustment and it has plenty of backlash. I opened it up to see what could be done to improve it and found the casting is so hollowed out the bearing bore had broke out on the bottom. The only way I use it is for postioning only and then only traveling in one direction. There is so much slop that when you tighten the lock screw it moves it by about 4 degrees depending on the current location. There is no way I would try to mill with it as it was rotating.
Al

I have one too. Absolute POS. I never even tried to use it to cut anything. Just put it down to a bad decision and bought a 4" Vertex, for not a lot more. Now that is a quality 4" rotary table that I would recommend. I use it as a 4th axis and it has no detectable backlash after careful setting up. All the adjustments are there.

Something to think about on items like these is that alot of times they come from the same factory just being sold by a different vender. An example is a lathe chuck LMS sells is the same one as Harbor Freight and Grizzly sells and also CDCO tools. CDCO is the cheapest but all in all its the exact same item. Just because it is more expensive from one vender doesent mean its from a different manufacturer or QC is higher. Might get a good one and might get a bad one all from the same manufacturer. Myself if I cant see the exact one I am buying then I will pay more for a name brand. My WT precision vise was out of parallel by .081, so I learned from that. Just my 2 pennys though.

Dang, I was kinda hoping it would work out. Oh well that's why I decided to ask. I do however plan on at least looking at it in the store and see just how bad it is. I probably better get a good one from a known name just so I can avoid the hassle. I do like to go a little cheaper at times when I know a little work will save me money, but in this case it sounds like more work than it's worth.

I do agree, there are only a hand full of manufactures just re-branding them, well at least on the budget ones.

Thanks Guys, you have been very helpful!

Bill

looks like this one might have backlash adjustment. Call them.

http://cgi.ebay.com/4-ROTARY-TABLE-FOR-MILLING-MACHINE_W0QQitemZ170185611952QQihZ007QQcategoryZ41943QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Phil

Yea, that one does have backlash adjustment, but it is a big POS out of the box though also. I bought that one from Grizzly.

The main problem with it, is the double nut that hold the table on/dowm to the base doesnt function properly. It has 3 screws at 120deg that are supposed to lock the nuts but the nuts appear to be machined at the same time so the threads match up perfectly preventing a decent lock and it will back off causing the table to chatter.

I backed off the top nut 120deg and tightened the screw that way so the gap squeezes the nuts togheter. Its better but not perfect as there is no way of getting the bottom nut tight enough to pull the table down with no chatter.

The handle assemble is HORRIBLE and requires some mods to function.

The backlash is adjusted by rotationg the handle bore tube which is eccentric allowing the screw to pivot in, however the lock that locks the tube doesnt work at all as is. You have to grind some spots on the tube that it is supposed to lock too as it is smooth and the lock just glides on it. I just roughed it up with a grinder and roughed up the end of the lock for some roughy to grab to.

After the mods it isnt that bad and can be used live. A thrust bearing on the bottom where the nuts that hold the table on would help drastically.

Also, take it COMPLETELY apart, and clean it very well. There were tons of chips and grit in this thing, so much the screw locked up on me when I first tried to rotate it. Re-assemble it with some lithium grease caked on everything!!

Its not all that bad for the price however I would get this one and remove it from the tilting base if needed. I have seen this one and it is 10 times better than the one above for less money.

http://grizzly.com/products/4-Rotary-Table-With-Tilting-Base/H7578

You could leave it on the base, add a powerfull enough motor and make a 5th axis even.

Has anyone had any experience with the Sherline rotary tables. I know that there mills and lathes are pretty good and I think they have a 4 inch rotary table thats not too awefully high $270. They offer it with a stepper mount also and have tailstocks, and angle plates for them.

Max,

I have alot of friends that have the Sherline rotary and almost all of the high end jewelry CNC systems (Modelmaster-Minitech etc...) use the Sherline product.

It is top shelf and compared to any of the import rotarys there is no comparision.

If its size suites your needs you cant go wrong with the Sherline rotary.

Jeff Alessi

The only thing that I bought from harbor fright that is a "precision" tool is the 6" digital calipers, mainly because they were cheap. In reality they are the same as the ones sears sells for 6x the price. HOWEVER: all of the air tools I have bought there are junk. The triggers take at least an hour of work to make them function and the air ratchet I bought there has worked grand total of 20 minutes and I have invested like 6 hours in fixing it. The cross sliding vice i bought there was covered in chips, which took over an hour to remove with WD-40 and paper towels (I don't have a parts washer).

Harbor Fright buys all of the units that would not pass QC for Grizzly. Also, I would buy that type of item from Grizzly because their return policy is more clear cut than Harbor Fright's policy.

Anyways, good luck in your search for a rotary table.

Also, I would buy that type of item from Grizzly because their return policy is more clear cut than Harbor Fright's policy.

Anyways, good luck in your search for a rotary table.

I don't know about that, I have never used grizzly before but I live in So. Cal. and their is a Harbor Freight down the street from me, well all over here. Anyhow I have returned stuff 3 months later with no questions asked and half the time, no receipt.

Bill

Wow. they gave me a bit of the "14 days to return" nonsense so i i just buy power tools from home depot, etc because it is half the distance to my house.

Harbor Fright buys all of the units that would not pass QC for Grizzly.

So we're supposed to believe that HF (or Central Machinery) buys "seconds" from Grizzly, disassembles them, sandblasts off the green paint, repaints them, reassembles and badges them, then sells them to HF??

Sorry, I gotta raise the :bs: flag on this incredible statement, unless you can show proof (or am I mistaking this statement for high-level sarcasm?)

I can agree with your statement about their air tools though. I only had experience with one of their air nailers, but it was a real POS. I was glad when my project was complete so I could get rid of that nasty thing. I guess it was worth the $20 I paid for it though. :D
The air compressor seemed pretty decent though, especially considering the price.

So we're supposed to believe that HF (or Central Machinery) buys "seconds" from Grizzly, disassembles them, sandblasts off the green paint, repaints them, reassembles and badges them, then sells them to HF??

Sorry, I gotta raise the flag on this incredible statement, unless you can show proof (or am I mistaking this statement for high-level sarcasm?)


Blades call my statement a mix of an assumption, based on my knowledge of the modern business climate and sarcasm.

Basis of my assumption:
I am pretty sure there are multiple stages of QC in those factories. They inspect the products and the ones that do not pass get put in an HF bin and the ones that do get put in a Grizzly bin, BEFORE PAINT.

Not 100% sure, but it makes sense to me. after all, the factory owners are looking to make a buck at every turn, and the tooling is expensive, as I think we all know here.

And lastly Blades, I have a $25 brad nailer I got at Home Depot a couple years back during the after thanksgiving sale, works just as well (so far) as the $90 Porter Cable brad nailers.

Jeff, your logic is good, because any company would be happy to sell their reject product, but I doubt that HF (or Central Machinery) could actually put together a whole product based on the rejects from another company. It would cause a production-planning nightmare, for one. I imagine these Chinese manufacturers have pretty loose QC demands for this HF/Grizzly level of machinery. If it goes together, it's probably sellable. I've had my HF 44991 completely taken apart, and saw nothing to lead me to believe that any part of it was built from rejected material (based on the fact that it's a $400 machine, and sans anything metallurgically related). Does Grizzly actually make that much better equipment than HF? I honestly have never laid hands on a Grizzly machine, so I don't know. If they are that much better, I'll have to change my buying habits.

- Bill

My experience with the Grizzly stuff is pretty much that the shop teacher where I went to high school bought one of their sanders and when he hit the power switch, it turned on. It seems like Grizzly's machinery is better quality, based on what I have read and photos people here and in magazines have posted.

The lathes and mills that the HF store near where I live seem solid in terms of the castings, but the ways, lead screws, etc. are messed up, the machine is out of true, to the point where I can see it when I turn the handles for while. And I know that floor models get beat up, but they are metal working tools, they should take the abuse a lot better than they do.

Micro Rotors (Bill),
RE: HF 4" rotary
Want one? PM me an address an it's on it's way.(no charge)
Never used, I bought it to check it out and it's way too small for my use.
Bob

Micro Rotors (Bill),
RE: HF 4" rotary
Want one? PM me an address an it's on it's way.(no charge)
Never used, I bought it to check it out and it's way too small for my use.
Bob

Bob,

Thank you very, very much!!!!

I sent you a PM

Again Thanks
Bill

Bill,
It's on a big brown truck headed towards you.
Don't worry about the shipping, Enjoy :)
Bob - ESS Systems

Bob,

WOW

Thanks, I really appreciate it, more than you'll ever know!!!!!!

If there is anything I can do for you ..... Just ask, please!!!!!

Bob ... Again, THANK YOU!

Bill

A little late but to chime in with my two cents...

I have seldom been happy with anything from Harbor Freight...
Most of their stuff is use once and dispose of IMHO.

Well, I don't want this to get into a tool bashing thread, but you know you get what you pay for. HF sells mostly Asian made stuff, they don't have the quality control in place the name brands do. So what you get is some good, some bad. I personally have never had an issue with a tool from HF. I had one impact wrench there the trigger broke (plastic) they replaced the whole wrench. If I had to make a living off the tools, I would probably buy name brand, but I don't. Like has been shown here on CNCZONE, you can buy some of these tools and spend a little and make a great machine for still less than a name brand.

I totally agree!

I have had some good, some bad but I always seem to get what I wanted with a little tweaking here and there.

With some much thanks to Bob, I will try and see what if anything (could be just fine) needs to be done to make it work perfectly.

It could be good as is, or might need to shim something, to replacing a gear who knows.

As far as I am concerned I am totally happy with my FREE HF 4" Rotary Table THANKS TO BOB!


Again Thanks to BOB!

Bill

The only thing that I bought from harbor fright that is a "precision" tool is the 6" digital calipers, mainly because they were cheap. In reality they are the same as the ones sears sells for 6x the price. HOWEVER: all of the air tools I have bought there are junk. The triggers take at least an hour of work to make them function and the air ratchet I bought there has worked grand total of 20 minutes and I have invested like 6 hours in fixing it. The cross sliding vice i bought there was covered in chips, which took over an hour to remove with WD-40 and paper towels (I don't have a parts washer).

Harbor Fright buys all of the units that would not pass QC for Grizzly. Also, I would buy that type of item from Grizzly because their return policy is more clear cut than Harbor Fright's policy.

Anyways, good luck in your search for a rotary table.
Have you enter a HF store? Returns are as close as the nearest register!
True some of their stuff is junk but thats up to you the buyer to determine. I passed on the cross slide vise instore! With all the slop and loosness, I would doubt anyone with a little machining background would let one of those leave the store with them.
As for harbor freight buying all defective items that dont pass for Grizzly - thats just false - plain and simple. My X3 from harbor freight is the exact same as my buddies X3 from Griz. The paint and stickers are the only difference. In fact when cleaning the ways on mine, we both thought mine looked look better than his finish wise. My 8x Lathe is almost a year old and is a work horse. If you would bother to read some reviews they are very good. On the air tools I will agree they are low quality, but I have a few in my box at work that have held up for years, and never had any trouble trigger wise.

The brown truck arrived yesterday night and had a little box of me. Yes, it was the rotary table Again I want to thank you for it.

Anyhow I am dismantling it, well almost, I cant get the table off of the base. How in the hel* does it come off?

Thanks
Bill

Bill,
It's on a big brown truck headed towards you.
Don't worry about the shipping, Enjoy :)
Bob - ESS Systems

aint it supose to be a sleigh with rain deer :D