Harbor Freight 4" Rotary Table?

[Micro Rotors]

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/cta...emnumber=47052

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

Thanks
Bill

[philbur]

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

Originally Posted by Micro Rotors 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/cta...emnumber=47052 Does anyone have any experience with this? How is the quality? Thanks Bill

[billfle]

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

[hoss2006]

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

[Twisted]

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.

[Micro Rotors]

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

[hoss2006]

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

[bemae]

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

[allanjs]

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

[LongRat]

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.

[maxboostbusa]

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.

[Micro Rotors]

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