Indexing Units & Rotary Tables

An extremely versatile piece of equipment, a rotary table allows for an array of cuts and drilling patterns, including bores, corner rounds and tangent rounds. Constructed from high-grade materials, we stock rotary tables and accessories from the well-known brand, Indexa®.

## What are rotary tables?
Used for precision machining, rotary tables are a circular positioning attachment that clamps parts in place on a rotating axis. This allows the user to turn linear motion into rotary motion for drilling or cutting at specific intervals around a central point.

## Why rotary tables?
A rotary table ensures accuracy in machining applications where precise reproduction is a must.

## Types of rotary tables
• Air bearing&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Designed with a longer running time that other rotary tables, the parts float freely above the table and reduce the need for maintenance

• Oil hydrostatic&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Commonly used for grinding and machining, this type of rotary table has a high load bearing capacity

• Mechanical bearing&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Unlike the other types discussed above, this type of rotary table has full contact mechanical parts, but despite the shorter lifespan, still delivers excellent performance on the most applications

## Considerations when choosing a rotary table
• **Table diameter** - the suface area of the rotary table

• **Through-hole diameter size** - ensure this will fit your components.

• **Maximum radial load** - central to the workstation

• **Radial load capacity** - It's important to know that maximum weight that the table can take to ensure you work safely.

• **Axial load capacity** - the maximum weight the table can take on the axis while operating will dictate the weight of the workpiece used.

• **Rotation speed ** - this will give an idea of precision.

## Rotary table Jargon buster
• Tooling plates - attach to the table at specific intervals and feature pins or alignment features for the workpiece

• Worm - this is the hand wheel which works in a cog or gear-like motion with the worm wheel to turn the table 

• Worm wheel - this part of the rotary table and interacts with the worm to rotate the table

• Drillstring - this forms part of the drillpipe and bottomhole assembly to make the drill bit rotate

### FAQs
*What's the difference between a rotary table and a top drive?*

While both a rotary table and a top drive both facilitate rotation for drilling, a rotary table is attached to a drilling rig to rotate the drill string, while a top drive is a motor attached to the derrick or mast to rotate the drill string.

*How is indexing achieved when using a rotary table?*

Some rotary tables have in-built indexing features to make repetitive moves around the axis. Others allow for the attachment of indexing plates, or the alternative, dividing plates, which allow for accurate positioning at regular intervals.

Cutting Tools

Workholding

Vices & Rotary Tables

Indexa

Rotary Tables
With a disengageable worm gear which allows rapid indexing. One rotation of handle equals four degrees on collar. The table is made of high grade cast iron. Works as an indexing unit in the vertical position as well as a conventional rotary table for circular cutting, boring or angle setting, etc. 

Accuracy:
Parallelism of clamping surface to base: 0.020mm
Flatness of clamping surface: 0.015mm
True running cylindrical centre bore: 0.020mm
True running of tapered centre bore: 0.020mm
Squareness of clamping surface to centre slot: 0.010mm