Sine Tables

British Manufactured | UKAS Certified | Obtain Accuracy

Eley Metrology produces a range of simple, compound and universal high-quality, British manufactured magnetic sine tables. 

 

Eley’s magnetic sine tables combine both a secure angle setting and magnetic clamping, making them practical for both inspection and light production work.

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  • Simple Sine Table: The simple sine plate is available in either short lift or long lift options. The short lift table has a top face that pivots about the long side. The long lift table has a top face that pivots about the short side.

  • Compound Sine Table: The compound sine plates are available in a variety of sizes to suit all inspection needs from 200mm to 300mm. Each sine plate features fine pole magnetic top faces and roller centres on the upper and lower stage.

  • Universal Sine Table: The universal compound angle sine plate is similar to the compound; however, it has the ability to be raised in either of two opposite planes.
  • Checking simple angular relationships to a high degree of accuracy
  • Checking compound angular relationships to a high degree of accuracy
  • Produce precise angular faces by grinding, jig boring or light machining

Related Measurement Solutions

Digital Height Gauges

Pair your granite surface table with Eley Metrology’s technologically advanced digital height gauges to create a complete reference station.

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Granite surface plates

Mount sine tables on granite surface plates for stable, low‑uncertainty angular setup and inspection.

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Industries Used In - Sine Tables -

A CMM touch-trigger probe conducting a dimensional measurement on a precision machined component secured on a granite surface plate.

Precision Engineering

Holding ferromagnetic components at precise angles for grinding and light machining, using gauge blocks or scales to set accurate sine positions.


Precision engineering companies use magnetic sine tables to generate repeatable angular setups when producing or inspecting chamfers, tapers and angular features on high‑tolerance parts.

Three industrial technicians in dark blue overalls wearing protective gloves and inspecting cylindrical metal components.

Metrology & Quality Inspection Labs

Positioning parts at calibrated angles on surface grinders or inspection setups for angular measurement, form verification and comparison to master components.


Metrology and inspection labs use magnetic sine tables as angular reference fixtures for checking taper, wedge and chamfer geometry against drawings and standards.

A technician wearing a yellow hard hat and safety glasses using a calliper to check the precise inner dimensions of a machined metal component.

Tool & Cutter Manufacturing

Clamping cutting tools, form tools and inserts magnetically at controlled angles for grinding clearance, rake and relief faces.


Tool and cutter grinding departments rely on magnetic sine tables to set and hold precise tool angles, ensuring consistent cutting performance and tool life.

Side view of a factory worker in blue uniform and safety gear setting up raw material on a metal milling machine.

Machine Shops & Toolrooms

Supporting small and medium-sized magnetic workpieces at defined angles for surface grinding, EDM and light milling operations.


General machine shops and toolrooms use magnetic sine tables when they need flexible, quick-change angular setups without complex mechanical fixturing.

A female aerospace technician in blue overalls inspecting a complex aircraft jet engine component.

Automotive and Aerospace

Holding shafts, blades, brackets and precision components at specific angles for grinding and verifying functional slopes, ramps and sealing faces.


Automotive and aerospace manufacturers use magnetic sine tables in development and production support areas where tight angular tolerances and repeatable setups are required on critical parts.

FAQs

What sizes of sine tables are available?

Eley sine tables are available in a range of sizes to suit inspection and machining requirements from light bench-level work through to larger production setups.

 

Compound angle sine tables are available in sizes from 200 mm to 300 mm to suit all inspection needs. Simple sine tables are available in short lift and long lift configurations, the short lift table pivots about the long side of the top face; the long lift table pivots about the short side, allowing a greater angular range or a higher elevation for a given centre distance.

 

Specific size requirements outside the standard range can be discussed with our technical team.
Email: sales@eleymet.com
Phone: 01332 367475

A simple sine table tilts in a single plane only; the top face pivots about one axis, allowing angles to be set in one direction. This makes it well-suited to checking or producing tapers, inclined faces and single-axis angular features.

 

A compound angle sine table adds a second independent tilting stage — a lower stage and an upper stage, each with its own roller centres — allowing two independent angles to be set simultaneously in perpendicular planes. This is essential for inspecting or machining compound angles, where a feature is inclined in two directions at once. When setting compound angles, the angle applied to the lower stage affects the effective angle of the upper stage, requiring a trigonometric compensation calculation to achieve the correct result.

A compound angle sine table tilts its upper stage in one fixed direction relative to the lower stage.

 

A universal compound angle sine table adds the ability to raise the upper stage in either of two opposite planes, giving the operator greater flexibility when setting complex compound angles where the direction of inclination must be reversed without repositioning the workpiece.

 

This makes the universal variant particularly well-suited to complex toolroom, grinding and inspection setups where the angular orientation of the feature dictates which direction the tilt must be applied, and where repositioning the component would introduce unacceptable setup error.

Calibration frequency should reflect the intensity of use, application criticality and your QMS requirements.

 

As a practical guide, sine tables in high-cycle machining or inspection environments benefit from calibration every 6–12 months; those used infrequently in controlled laboratory conditions may suit an annual interval. Calibration should also be triggered following any impact, suspected roller damage, or unexplained angular measurement inconsistency.

 

All Eley sine tables and plates are supported by a UKAS certificate of calibration for angular performance, providing the traceable evidence required for QMS compliance.

On a simple sine table, the top face pivots about a pair of roller centres. In the short lift configuration, the rollers run along the long axis of the table, so the table tilts about its long side, producing a wider, more stable elevated platform for a given angle.

 

In the long lift configuration, the rollers run along the short axis, so the table tilts about its short side, producing a higher elevation for the same angle, which is useful when the angular range or clearance height required cannot be achieved with the short lift arrangement.

Close-grained cast iron is well-established as the standard material for precision sine tables due to its combination of rigidity, dimensional stability and vibration damping characteristics.

 

The graphite microstructure of cast iron naturally absorbs vibration, a critical property when the sine table is used as a workholding fixture during grinding or precision machining operations, where vibration would directly compromise surface quality and angular accuracy.

 

Cast iron also offers excellent compressive strength and resistance to wear on working faces, maintains its geometry over long service life when properly maintained, and is stable under the clamping loads applied during machining and inspection setups.

Yes. Sine tables are dual-purpose tools; they function both as inspection references and as precision work-holding fixtures for machining operations.

 

They are widely used to produce precise angular faces and diameters by surface grinding, jig boring and light machining, where the workpiece is clamped to the sine table top face and the table is set to the required angle using a slip gauge stack. The fine pole magnetic top faces on Eley compound angle sine tables provide additional workpiece clamping security during machining operations without requiring mechanical clamping that could distort delicate components.

Cast iron sine tables require consistent care to maintain angular performance and protect working surfaces:

 

  • Cleaning: Wipe all working faces, rollers and roller seats before and after each use with a soft, lint-free cloth. Remove all coolant, cutting fluid and metallic swarf promptly. Retained debris is the most common cause of angular setting error.
  • Rust prevention: Apply a light coat of rust-preventative oil or petroleum jelly to all exposed cast iron faces and rollers when not in use. In humid or coolant-rich environments, check surfaces regularly for early-stage oxidation.
  • Roller care: Inspect roller centres regularly for wear, damage or contamination. The rollers are the critical reference feature of the sine table. Any damage to them directly affects angular accuracy.
  • Slip gauge platforms: Keep slip gauge seating areas clean and burr-free. Any contamination between the gauge stack and the seating surface introduces angular error directly into the measurement.
  • Storage: Store covered on a stable, dry surface away from temperature extremes and moisture. Protect T-slots and clamping features from swarf ingress.

Yes. All Eley sine tables and plates are supported by a UKAS certificate of calibration for angular performance, issued from our UKAS-accredited laboratory (No. 30213).

 

The certificate confirms the angular accuracy of the table against traceable reference standards, providing the documented evidence required for regulated industries and formal quality management systems.