Quote Originally Posted by cadguy247 View Post
I see, thanks for the enlightenment. How about the tilting rotary tables that Tormach sells, any drawbacks to those? and how do those compare to the super spacer ones that they sell?
Cadguy, you got me on the tilting rotary tables. The little that I know is that the tilting operation is manual. For the stuff that I do, I don't need this feature. Perhaps your projects require something akin to a 5th axis, but be aware this won't be automated unless you do some serious hacking. The amount of work something like that will require, though, would be considerably steeper than buying a 5th axis machine!

I also know very little about the super spacers, but I imagine the reason why they are being offered is because the typical rotary table won't fix on your machine if you have an ATC. Whoever wants to have both has milled the rotary table top in order to fit the ATC height requirements.

The super spacer wasn't available when I acquired the 4th axis. If I were buying today, I might consider it. The 4th axis may seem like a cheaper option but be aware that by the time you add the chuck, the mounting plate and the tailstock, you are looking at pretty much what the super spacer sells for. I think I acquired my set for something near $1900 but this was before Tormach raised their prices about 3 years ago. Something tells me the rotary table will eventually become obsolete. That super spacer sure looks nice! But that is all I know.

Good luck on your search and keep us posted on what route you eventually go for!