[Japazo]

I have been working as an engineer overseeing a small machine shop for about a year. I graduated about 2 years ago. Needless to say, I am not incredibly well versed in machine tools and their configurations. The shop I am at now has a 2008 Mag-Fadal 4020 with an aftermarket 4th axis installed. Instead of bolting the 4th axis to the regular table, the engineer before me ordered a 60x22x2 inch aluminum slab and machined a cantilevered seat for the 4th axis which hangs off of the right side of the table. This is convenient since the 4th axis is out of the way for most machining operations, but it is inconvenient since we lose the ability to use the T-slots in the table and we also lose 2 inches of vertical travel which we have found would come in handy. We can drill and tap our own holes in the aluminum for fixturing, but in my opinion the losses outweigh the benefits.

I would like to do away with the slab, but at the same time I don't want to lose half of my work area due to the 4th axis. Ideally I would like to create some type of bracket or fixture that could allow us to keep the 4th axis hanging off the side, but still gain the 2 inches of height. With the slab on the table, I have no way to see if there are any convenient mounting holes on the sides or bottom of the original table. Has anyone ever ventured to accomplish this? I would be really interested to hear any ideas or previous attempts anyone might have! Thanks.

[mfgbydesign]

You should be able to design a robust mounting plate that cantelevers off the table but leaves most of it open, or buy a small cast iron t-slot table so the top of the plate has t-slots available. Even buy a used one off an auction site & have it ground parallel.
Or you could go the quick-change route & remove the 4th altogether when it's not in use, drop it on some pins & plug it in when needed.

[denmar]

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