Thread: MECA Rotary Tables

Ray

No wonder you didn't want me to go with you.

I bet that the one you got to turn was the one down the back. Had I got any movement from it I would have taken it home; the colour would have matched the mill nicely.

I left you some horizontal arbors; were any suitable?

That place is Aladdin's cave.

My Vertex is 350mm. only 10mm short of your 2. There was also an old 18" or so RT down the back also.

Did you find the 900mm faceplate??

Ken

Originally Posted by Toggy

Ray, No wonder you didn't want me to go with you. Ken

Well, you could have come along helped load, there's a bit of weight in those suckers... they had a little hydraulic die trolley. Very handy.

Originally Posted by Toggy

I bet that the one you got to turn was the one down the back. Had I got any movement from it I would have taken it home; the colour would have matched the mill nicely.

Yes that was the one, it spins beautifully, very smooth. We've got the other one in bits now, and it was just gunked up with dried oil and a bit of surface rust.. all good otherwise.

Originally Posted by Toggy

I left you some horizontal arbors; were any suitable? That place is Aladdin's cave.

No didn't get any arbors, but he has a heap of 50 taper tooling, racks of milling cutters, taps, dies, pretty much you name it and I'd bet he would come close... even left handed taps and dies...

I was hoping he might have a 40 taper collet arbor, he probably has, but we'd run out of cash at that point.... we did manage to get some 20mm steel plate and 32 mm steel plate, potentially for the Deckel T-slot repair.

Originally Posted by Toggy

My Vertex is 350mm. only 10mm short of your 2. There was also an old 18" or so RT down the back also.

How about a picture of the vertex? There were a few other rotary tables, the 24" near the front door, the rusty one down the back, and Josh said there was one more somewhere...

We'll definately be going back there for bits and pieces, and some stock, it's refreshing doing business with an old fashioned scrap dealer... love it..

Regards
Ray

The one that was stuck, was first in line to get stripped...

DSCN3120a.JPGDSCN3121a.JPGDSCN3122a.JPGDSCN3123a.JPGDSCN3124a.JPG

The main castings are now in a caustic bath to clean off the paint... the general condition is pretty good.. nicely made and quality looks good.

Regards
Ray

Ray,

Any reason for the backlash in the worm; or just out of adjustment?

Damn; I nearly took a punt on the good one.

Ken

Originally Posted by Toggy

Ray,

Any reason for the backlash in the worm; or just out of adjustment?

Damn; I nearly took a punt on the good one.

Ken

Hi Ken,
I hope it's adjustable, all those parts were stuck with dried up oil and gunk as well... there's a rotating cam thing on the worm drive that we haven't quite sussed out...

Regards
Ray

PS... I should go and look at the other one, it's still together.

Ray

Is that a broken race I see in one of the thrust bearings?

Is that centre pin in the table centre removeable. Could be a nuisance and get in the way of setups.

Ken

Originally Posted by Toggy

Ray

Is that a broken race I see in one of the thrust bearings?

Is that centre pin in the table centre removeable. Could be a nuisance and get in the way of setups.

Ken

Yes, it's a broken race, it's going to get a new set of bearings anyway as part of the rebuild.. I'd like to regrind the top and bottom surfaces, but it's a little too big for the surface grinder... so it might be straight to the scraper..

We were just discussing that center pin,.. it doesn't really do anything... I think it's an option for locating some kind of fixture, I can see advantages in leaving it off, that would allow stock to feed through the center of the table.

Regards
Ray

Hi Ray,
Wow you have a higher class of strap around your place!

Is the worm gear supported at both ends or just one?

Stuart

Originally Posted by Stustoys

Hi Ray,
Wow you have a higher class of strap around your place!

Is the worm gear supported at both ends or just one?

Stuart

Hi Stuart,

Neither end... just the middle, along the full length... pictures might explain better..

DSCN3126a.JPGDSCN3127a.JPG

Do you think the cam action, will change the backlash? it changes the engagement between the worm and the table gears.

Regards
Ray

HI Ray,
Thats what I meant by one end, thanks

You mean the cam action of rotating the carrier(what I call the other part in the picture)?
Yes it does.
Some tables have an adjustable stop so you can reengage the worm without having to set it each time....... if that makes sense.

Stuart

Hmmm I have the exact same Meca rotary table as that. 14" and all.
New they are a $3500.00 investment, I have been told by a machinery dealer that Meca is the best of the best.
I managed to get mine hardly used at an auction for $200.00 and had a dealer offer me $1,200 for it 1/2 an hour later. So in my mind you have got yourself one hell of a bargain there..
I'm almost green with envy..... Nah I'm defenantely green with envy.
Great buy fellas.
Matt

PS
Mine came with dividing plates, Selectors, well the lot.
The center is removable and leaves a non tapered bore.
The 3 retaining screw holes are for adding your own lacating centers or a Meca morse taper center, I think from memory they come from morse 2 up to morse 4. You just bolt it in and you con drop anything with a morse taper into it.
At the moment mine has a chuck center in it, So I can screw on a Pratt Bernard 5" lathe chuck on.
It's not hard to machine your own centers for the table.
I'll try get a pic or 2 tomorrow if I can get out the shed, It's pretty wet here.

Hi Matthew,

I've been searching for information on Meca, and coming up pretty much blank.
All I did find quite a few recommendations saying, ( as you've pointed out ) they come with a top shelf reputation. Meca and Yuasa seem to be the top of the line in rotary tables.
These two, have been around the block a few times and are still in pretty good condition, just dirty and a little beat up.
When you get time it would be good to see some pictures of yours, and if you come across any manuals or documentation let me know.

Regards
Ray

Ray,

Very belatedly (this morning actually) I googled Meca Rotary Table. There are quite a few entries. One thing I did find was that they have been used before with drive motor for the 4th axis on CNC. Ideal for you, manual one for Das Damaged Deckel and one for the CNC.
I also noticed from several pics that they should have table locks similiar to the Vertex. It appears these 2 may have been used in a butcher shop and the original locks broken off and replaced by those half ar5ed replacements

Pic attached of the 14" Vertex and it's table locks. Also shows a couple of arbors I got.

KenP1010251.jpg

Originally Posted by Toggy

Ray,

Very belatedly (this morning actually) I googled Meca Rotary Table. There are quite a few entries. One thing I did find was that they have been used before with drive motor for the 4th axis on CNC. Ideal for you, manual one for Das Damaged Deckel and one for the CNC.
I also noticed from several pics that they should have table locks similiar to the Vertex. It appears these 2 may have been used in a butcher shop and the original locks broken off and replaced by those half ar5ed replacements

Pic attached of the 14" Vertex and it's table locks. Also shows a couple of arbors I got.

KenP1010251.jpg

Hi Ken,

That Vertex looks good. If you want details of the dividing plates for your vertex, they will be the same as the Vertex 6" which i can lend you when you want.

The table locks on the Meca tables, one table is undamaged ( ie original ), and I can copy those to return the other to factory condition. the locking bars are missing, but everything else is ok.

Should look like this one, this is 12"
Meca12.jpg


The other table has one broken and someone has machined up a block for it, and on the other side ( next to the indexing lock ) looks like it can be adjusted

I think we'll just restore it to original..

Regards
Ray

PS If you find a manual in your googling let me know!..