Will a 6″ rotary table fit on a Sieg SX1 mini-mill?

[Robert Atkinson 2Participant @robertatkinson2]

Bit of a retorical question, but I thought it might be useful information for a prospective purchaser.
Some years ago, before getting my current mill, I purchased a used Seba 6″ horizontal / vertical rotary table. It was a bargain buy at an amateur radio rally. Fast forward to this week and I need to make a 115mm diameter hole for a cooling fan in a aluminium panel. This is for an electronics project and the panel is from a 4U half rack case that I’m repurposing. Having aquired a mill (from ARC Eurotrade) last year it seems a no brainer to use it and the rotary table to cut the hole. But would the large 6″ table fit on the little SX1-LP mill? And second can I rotate the 240mm x 130mm panel through 360 degrees with the center of the hole offset to one side?

The answer is yes, I can.

The plate and thin ply backing are held to the table by screws in the fan mounting locations (105mm square) into nut plates in the rotary table T-slots. I made the plates a little long and they fouled the table clamp screws. It was easier to remove the clamps than shorten the plates and re-align everything. The rotary table centerline is on the center of the mill table.  The only problem I had was the aluminium was a bit soft and stuck to the cutter so I used lubricant. I also made the initial cut inside the requred diameter and then finished with a light cut. I need to get a MT2 center to make alignment easier. A good learning experience for me being first use of a rotary table and a lot easier than chain drilling and filing.

Robert.

[DiogenesParticipant @diogenes]

Nice – interesting to see that there was enough daylight for a collet chuck and ‘throat’ for the panel.

[Robert Atkinson 2]

On 31 December 2023 at 16:26 Robert Atkinson 2 Said:

I need to get a MT2 center to make alignment easier.

Is it correct to say that this is to go into taper in the rotary table?

Could I propose another, complementary idea? A 2MT soft blank arbor works well turned to a parallel diameter to suit your largest collet.

Grip it in the collet with the male 2MT downwards, leave the RT loose, push the arbor into its centre hole with the quill and then once centred tighten the RT’s securing bolts and zero your DRO.

[DC31k]

On DC31k Said:

On 31 December 2023 at 16:26 Robert Atkinson 2 Said:

I need to get a MT2 center to make alignment easier.

Is it correct to say that this is to go into taper in the rotary table?

Could I propose another, complementary idea? A 2MT soft blank arbor works well turned to a parallel diameter to suit your largest collet.

Grip it in the collet with the male 2MT downwards, leave the RT loose, push the arbor into its centre hole with the quill and then once centred tighten the RT’s securing bolts and zero your DRO.

It’s more for aligning the panel to the RT than the RT to the mill spindle. I did use a variation of your technique to align RT and spindle. I put a 6mm dowel in the ER32 collet and a MT2 jacobs chuck in the RT taper. With the table centered I aligned by eye and finally closed the Jacobs chuck on the dowel before clamping the RT down.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

I’ve got an HV6 which JUST about fits on my X2, but it’s rather heavier than I would prefer. A 5″ table would be ideal but I will stick with what I’ve got.

 

Neil

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

For lining up work I went the opposite way and turned a small 6mm dia spigot onto a MT2 blank. Also made a few “rings” to slip over the spigot in various diameters then if work has a hole in it I simply but the right ring on the spigot and slip the work over that.

If work just has a punch mark and you don’t have a ctr then just turn a point on a bit of say 6mm bar and hold that in a collet and bring down into the punch mark.

head room is likely to become more of an issue once you have a chuck fixed to the rotary table, Ok while doing thin jobs mounted direct to the table though.

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

The bigger the RT the more Z axis it consumes especially if a chuck is added. I bought a 6″ one and it is just right for the Tom Senior light vertical and also the slightly larger round column mill. If you have thoughts of upsizing your mill in the future, then the inconvenience of a slightly oversize RT would be best. Above 6″, they also get heavy.

[LindsayParticipant @lindsaydonaldson93648]

I hope you don’t mind me jumping on this thread with a related question..  What size RT are people typically using with a Sieg SX3.5ZP

I don’t want to go large and lose too much Z axis. 6″/150mm looks to be a good match but I would appreciate other peoples experiences with this machine.

Thereafter, which is the preferred offering from the budget brands?

I did try to use the search function but it’s not working.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

I’d still say 6″/150mm as a chuck and backplate can add another 80mm or so to the total height and then it becomes hard to get larger drills or reamers into the remaining head room.

The ARC 150mm one is nice but a bit spendy for some so look at the Soba. I use both.

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, if it’s any help to anyone, I have used my Vertex RT on my Chester Cobra mini mill, the only real restrictions are the height above your work, and the distance from the centre of the table and the column, which on the Cobra is 140mm.

Regards Nick.

 

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