Newbie- New to rotary tables, what clamps do I need for these operations?

[batraintech]

With a non cnc mill, I need to do the following operations in Aluminum:

1) Make a flange, ID needs good tolerance (needs to be pressable), OD not so much. 4 good tolerance bolt holes along a 4" imaginary circle.

2) Some boring of the inside and outside of a tube, just near the entrance, need good tolerance. The tube will need to be upright, probably 4 - 5" long.

1 & 2 are for a hub of course and both will need to be well centered.

3) A wedge cut out with an arc at the end in a flat. Kind of like pacman's mouth but with a fillet at the sharp point. Tolerance not that important. I made one of these with a grinder by hand actually but it was annoying and a bit sloppy looking.

When I mention "good tolerance", it's not really that tight of a requirement by machining standards, just +- .01" at worst.

The process needs to be repeatable.


I haven't purchased the rotary table yet or the clamps. What would be the best way to clamp the flat down so it's well centered for the flange? Also what type of clamp or chuck or something would be best for holding a 5", 2.25" OD tube upright so it is centered and firm and doesn't "wobble"?

And is there a minimum size of table I need? This is with a mini-mill so I assume there is a maximum size of table I can use.

Thank you for your time, trying to avoid my tendency of buying things that don't match my needs.

[MrWild]

How big is your mill. You will need an 8" table for the clamps. You can get by with smaller if you did the math for your bolt circle and did that first on your manual mill. Then you could use a 6"and bolt the flange down (on top of a riser) with the bolt holes.

Sometimes a boring head and bar work a lot better for some projects. How big is your miil?

[batraintech]

It's pretty small, 8.5 inch vertical stroke.

How about the tube standing on end, what type of chuck or other holder would be best for holding that? On a budget since I would only be using it for 1 part. Would a chuck such as this fit on a rotary table or would i need some type of adapter:

http://www.grizzly.com/products/3-3-...ll-Chuck/G9828

Or is it more normal to put independent jaws or blocks in the t-slots of the table?