Does My Shop Need A Rotary Table?

With all the different tools pitched as THE solution your shop needs, it's a fair question to wonder if you really need a rotary table at all. Machinists got on fine without them for a long time, and it's not as if the progress of all mankind rested solely upon the invention of the rotary table. 

There are some operations in which a rotary table may not be a completely necessary purchase, but there are definitely some shops that absolutely should have them. Also, "need" is relative; a skilled-enough operator may not need many pieces of equipment due to skill and knowledge acquired through years of experience. 

However, like any other specialized tool...when you need one, you need one. 

What A Rotary Table Is Used For

A rotary table holds a workpiece on a mill but also allows rotation on a vertical or horizontal axis. Some models allow for a fourth axis of rotation, and some create a fifth axis of rotation. The table mounts in the milling table. 

The table is turned by means of worm gears, either a single or by duplex worm gears in high-precision models. Rotary tables can be manually operated, by means of a hand crank, or they can be automated by means of an electric motor. Older designs were totally hand-operated, and many tables still made and sold today - especially the more value-focused products - still are designed for manual operation. More modern rotary tables, like all machines, are CNC-controlled. 

A rotary table is indicated when certain types of complex cuts, especially cuts of a rotary nature, are required during milling. Ordinarily this would require the workpiece be moved from the mill to a lathe, clamped/chucked and then turned, then moved back to the mill. While machinists of past eras resorted to working in this fashion, doing so takes up far more time than most shops can afford to spare. 

Cuts Requiring A Rotary Table

A number of different cuts require a rotary table.

Helical cuts, such as those needed to mill a propeller or fan blade, require a fifth axis of rotation and thus necessitate use of a rotary table. 

Straight-line cuts at multiple angles in the same workpiece can require use of a rotary table, depending on the workpiece. 

Arched or circular pieces are much more easily cut using a rotary table, as well as workpieces requiring the center of rotation being moved during milling. 

A rotary table also enables far easier machining of flats onto the head of a bolt. 

There are many more examples, of course, but these are classic examples of complex cuts that either require use of a rotary table or that are made much easier and more efficient when a rotary table is employed by the machinist on a workpiece requiring these cuts. 

Do YOU Need A Rotary Table? 

Whether or not your shop needs a rotary table, like any other piece of equipment such as 5 axis trunnion or what have you, depends a great deal on the nature of the parts produced by your shop. Not every metalworking shop is the same; some are generalist job shops, producing a diversity of different parts on order, and others specialize in specific parts for a specific industry or as an in-house shop at a specific company. 

So it depends heavily on what your shop turns out. 

If you would like to see just what a rotary table might be able to do for your shop, or to learn if one of the AccuRock Rotary Tables is right for your shop, contact us for a free consultation and quote! Our service team's mission is to equip metalworking shops with the best equipment for their operation, and we would be thrilled to find out just what ATS Systems can do for you.