Tilting Table Kit?

[Ed Phelps 1Participant @edphelps1]

I'm unhappy with the various Chinese tilting tables being sold and I would like to machine my own. I seem to remember at one time someone sold castings for these. Does anyone remember these kits and are they still available?

Thanks,

Ed P

[Ed Phelps 1Participant @edphelps1]

[John ReeseParticipant @johnreese12848]

Hemmingway?

[Michael CheckleyParticipant @michaelcheckley34085]

My castings came from College Engineering Supply. The parts were still on their website the last time I looked.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Michael

CES lists Tilting Angle Plates **LINK**

… is that what you have? or do/did they list anything with a large bearing?

[more like this style]

MichaelG.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 22/04/2016 08:40:58

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

I guess one approach is to buy a Chinese one and treat it as a casting kit?

[EmgeeParticipant @emgee]

Another option is the 6 1/2" x 4" Sine table by Dave Lammas, solid bit of kit. Castings available from Blackgates at

**LINK**

Emgee

Edited By Emgee on 22/04/2016 09:24:01

[Roderick JenkinsParticipant @roderickjenkins93242]

This one came as a kit from Model Engineering Services – the same people who sold the Quorn castings. MES are sadly now defunct, I don't know if anybody has taken over the patterns, it's a very solid piece of kit..

And, yes, items do sometimes slip when machining – as evidenced by that slot

HTH (but not much)

Rod

[Michael Cox 1Participant @michaelcox1]

I have only rarely needed a tilting table and Icould not justify the expense of a purposed made unit. However, I had a tilting vice and I made a small tee slot table that clamped in the vice, see:

http://mikesworkshop.weebly.com/tilting-table.html

Mike

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Roderick Jenkins on 22/04/2016 09:42:15:

This one came as a kit from Model Engineering Services – the same people who sold the Quorn castings. MES are sadly now defunct, I don't know if anybody has taken over the patterns, it's a very solid piece of kit..

.

Thanks for posting that, Rod … It saves me wondering where I had seen it.

Sad loss, M.E.S.

MichaelG.

[Neil LickfoldParticipant @neillickfold44316]

John Haine has it right. It sometimes takes longer to rework something over making new depending on the errors and what is required to be able to rework it. I assume that since you are after a kit, have the capacity to rework the one you have. The advantage of reworking stuff, is you will know where and how much the errors are. Then you can decide if it is acceptable or not.

Neil

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Roderick Jenkins on 22/04/2016 09:42:15:

This one came as a kit from Model Engineering Services – the same people who sold the Quorn castings. MES are sadly now defunct, I don't know if anybody has taken over the patterns, it's a very solid piece of kit..

I think Ivan and Mike Law still have the patterns for the MES products, but I don't think they are planning on going back into production.

Neil

Neil

[Ed Phelps 1Participant @edphelps1]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 22/04/2016 08:37:58:

Michael

CES lists Tilting Angle Plates **LINK**

… is that what you have? or do/did they list anything with a large bearing?

[more like this style]

MichaelG.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 22/04/2016 08:40:58

I'm looking for the one shown in your second link. I've found a supplier of a Chinese 5"x7" over here in the States for just $58.00. At that price I'll take a chance that I can treat it like a kit and make something useful out of it!

Thanks for everyone's comments.

Ed P

[John HinkleyParticipant @johnhinkley26699]

Ed,

Since you've decided to go down the reworking route, it might be helpful for you to have a look at Stefan Gotteswinter's YouTube feed. He's just uploaded a video showing how he has approached this very procedure. Only part one, so far, but interesting nevertheless. His other projects are an easy way to lose a few hours as well! Just search for his name on YouTube and you'll find it.

John

P.S. For scraping aficionados, he uses a power tool to take the hard graft out of scraping the base flat!

[Chris Evans 6Participant @chrisevans6]

I have castings for a swivelling/tilting table. Patterns made by my Sisters Partner and I got two sets cast, I will start machining in the next week or so. I will cheat and go into where I used to work and surface grind the faces.

[Michael CheckleyParticipant @michaelcheckley34085]

I have the 559 castings from CES so not as robust as the one shown in your second link. I wasn't too bothered about a scale as I plan on measuring the angle each time it is set and clamped.

 

Edited By Michael Checkley on 26/04/2016 10:05:57

[Steve PaveyParticipant @stevepavey65865]

Posted by John Hinkley on 26/04/2016 07:15:51:

Ed,

Since you've decided to go down the reworking route, it might be helpful for you to have a look at Stefan Gotteswinter's YouTube feed…

P.S. For scraping aficionados, he uses a power tool to take the hard graft out of scraping the base flat!

Seconded. As he says, he couldn't have bought the materials to make his own for the price of the one he got. His workmanship is first rate on all his projects.

Incidentally. for a cheap power scraper there are electric power chisels available – I have a Bosch one (now discontinued I think), they might work as a scraper for cast iron with the right blade.

[Raymond AndersonParticipant @raymondanderson34407]

Hope this has some relevance, This is a tilting table I made a few years back. Although its from scratch and not a kit. It is all Meehanite, except the threaded pivots and their nuts [EN24t] and the threaded inserts [EN24T @ M8] I decided to have a go at hand scraping the plate surface after it was milled, although it took 2 days I feel it was worth it as it is flat to within 0.005mm anywhere. The scraping was actually quite enjoyable but not something I would want to do full time !! It tilts 95deg either side of horizontal and as you would expect from something that weighs in at a shade over 68kg's VERY rigid. The pivots pins are 24mm Ø threaded 1.25mm pitch [ EN 24T] and are 1 left hand thread and 1 right hand thread. The inserts are 25mm ctc and are also EN24T they have a flange on the rear and when they were all pulled home tight sit approx 0.25mm below the surface. It doesn't ever move from where it is set regardless of how heavy a cut is taken. Were I to make another one, I would design in a tilting mechanism as you must ensure you have a good hold of it when you loosen the pivot nuts!! If not, then you will have around about 35kg's of Meehanite plate either tilting away from you or toward you [and you don't want any digits between the table and the milling machine bed ] if you don't have control over it, or else its a trip to the KRANKENHAUS !! This genuine Meehanite is a sheer joy to machine and work with, although very dirty. Hope this has been of interest.

Cheers.

[Harold Hall 1Participant @haroldhall1]

I have made the CES tilting angle plate but as is almost always the case with commercial angle plates, fixed and tilting, the provision for securing workpieces on it was limited. three slots in this case. Fortunately, the casting was very substantial and thick enough to include tee slots. So in addition to the three vertical slots I added three horizontal tee slots.

See my efforts here here

Harold

[RICHARD GREEN 2Participant @richardgreen2]

Here is the tilting table that I use on an elliott U2 mill, it is 6"x 8" and has 3 T slots, I like the T slots better than plain slots, it is quite old but is in nice condition.

Richard.

[Raymond AndersonParticipant @raymondanderson34407]

Edit, the threaded inserts are on 30mm ctc.not 25mm. also table thickness after milling and scraping 30.68mm.

[ZebethyalParticipant @zebethyal]

How about a tilt table that mounts in a vice?

Tom Lipton at Ox Tools shows a version of his mini pallet that can be used as a tilt table by simply bolting a piece of round bar to one end.

[NJHParticipant @njh]

Harold

Nice to see that you are still "lurking" here!

I made the adjustable angle plate many years ago when access to bigger machines in college workshops was available in the evenings. I don't recall ever using it but, with your modification, I'm sure use might be made of it. A future project for me I feel!

Regards

Norman

[Harold Hall 1Participant @haroldhall1]

Thanks Norman

I agree Richard, T slots are much easier to use than plain slots. When I devised my "alternative to a four jaw chuck. **LINK** using a T slotted base. I realised when complete that I now also had a T slotted face plate, so much easier to use in most cases than conventional faceplates. Also, being heavier, easier to balance.

Harold

[frank brownParticipant @frankbrown22225]

I bought a Chinese tilting table and found it hard to use. Some of the problems I think are common. The first is that when the table goes too far from the horizontal, it falls all the way over and its hard to adjust to the last .001" . I sort of fixed both at once by fitting 6 M6 protruding bolts around the curved moving bit. I then made a "crowbar" with some holes and slots in it. With the crowbar, you could a, counterbalance the table and b, move it in a much more sensitive way. If the mating surfaces were better finished then pocketed springs for the clamps would have been nice but for this example, it would have been gilding the lily.

Frank

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