My version of Marv's rotary table centering gadget

[joe d]

I've buggered around far too long trying to guesstimate centre with the rotary table, so when Marv posted his gadget, I thought "I need one of these" and filed it for future reference. Well, the future is now as somebody no doubt said...

Turned some ali as a MT1, cut it off short to fit flush with the surface of the table, drilled & tapped to facilitate using a 10-32 capscrew to remove it from the table, counterbored to create a socket for useful things such as (so far) a pointy piece to use for centering and a another plug with a 3/16" pin as the first of no doubt many sizes to use for locating work that had a convenient hole in the centre...
all the parts

in the table with the capscrew used for removing...
with the centering pin

Only one thing left to say: Thanks, Marv! :bow:

Cheers, Joe

 

[tel]

Lookin' good Joe, I'll have to do something like that for mine

 

[mklotz]

Joe,

Nothing more satisfying than having some one regard your ideas highly enough to use them themselves. I'm pleased and flattered.

Whenever you have occasion to turn some stock to aliquot sizes, remember to turn a bit extra, cut off a slice and ream it 3/16" for your pin. Soon you'll have a collection of bushings.

You may also want to turn a chunk with a countersunk hole. If you pop that in you can use the pointy end of your edge finder to rough center the table quickly. That's more precise than trying to align two male points. Your fingernail can easily detect less than a thousandth offset on the edge finder.

 

[joe d]

Marv

Took a couple of minutes this AM to turn a piece with the countersunk hole as you suggested, then used it in mounting the table on the mill.... very happy to report that it took longer to bolt the table to the mill than it took to centre the thing Thm:

Please do keep on posting your shop-made devices, there are a number of them that are already on my roundtuit list, and I don't doubt that you've lots more that would be well worthwhile making....

Cheers, Joe

 

[mklotz]

Will do, Joe.

One of the advantages of not having any formal training as a machinist is that one's mind isn't all cluttered up with the accepted ways of doing things. As a result, it's much easier to design stuff.

I also have the "advantage" of being terminally lazy so I'm inclined to try to design my way around any little task that exceeds my very low threshold for tedium.

Ignorance and laziness combined with a minimalist approach to problem solving can be a very powerful trio of shop tools.