Gallery, Projects and General > Project Logs
Making a Rotary Table
NormanV:
I would like to machine tee slots but am a bit nervous of it. I might try first on a piece of scrap. Drilled and tapped holes would be easier plus I wouldn't need to buy or make a cutter.
awemawson:
If you place tapped holes where you would have put Tee slots, then you have the option of still making the slots at a later date :ddb:
NormanV:
Good idea Andrew!
The next job I attempted today was the locate the worm wheel on the shaft. Ideally I would cut a keyway in the shaft to match the one in the gear, I don't yet have the collet to fit the cutter required so I thought that if I put a short grubscrew in the shaft it would locate in the slot. This I did and the gear slipped on beautifully and was fixed in position on the shaft. Unfortunately it makes it impossible to assemble due to the curved face of the worm wheel!
Plan two is to drill a hole axially into the end, half in the shaft and half in the wheel and pin it, I've done it before to lock loco wheels onto their axle so I know it will work.
Plan three is to be patient and wait until I get the correct size collet!
awemawson:
Norman,
make a temporary collet on your lathe. Chuck up a bar of a size that you do have a collet for, drill suitably for the cutter, fix with a grub screw. Take light cuts. OK it won't be as accurate as a collet, but should suit the job in hand, especially if your cutter is narrower than the slot and you are cutting in two passes, one each side.
Alternately you could 'shape' the key way in the lathe using a parting tool held sideways, or with a bit of hss suitably ground. Youtube abounds with examples :)
NormanV:
Andrew, you make me feel a bit foolish, I seem to be looking for the problems that don't exist. I did exactly what you suggested and made a holder for the cutter to fit in a larger collet. The whole thing took about 30 minutes and I ended up with a proper bit of engineering. Thanks.
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