M110110M Angle iron rails for X and Y axes

[Gerald_D]

The rail specs are on drawing number M1 10 110 M that you have downloaded. You are welcome to send the drawings out to suppliers and to arrange "group buys". When the discussions get a little too commercial, then I will make a "market" section in this Forum where people can do limited advertising.

For shipping rails, what about strapping them to each other in pairs with wood in between....
http://www.mechmate.com/Forum/messages/11/1885.gif
.....and then putting them inside cheap round plastic pipes....? (The ends are most likely to get damaged - that is one of the reasons the drawing shows an extra 100mm to be trimmed after assembly)

PS. if you publish someone's e-mail, please be sure that they won't mind.

[fabrica]

Yitong guys have replied to me saying that they could do the rails as per our specs which I sent to them. I also informed them that we are a group who are willing to buy from them. They need to know the yearly sales they could expect of Rollers and rails. How should we respond.

[fabrica]

Below given is a link to a interesting site of a manufacturer of linear motion products.

http://www.lm76.com

[Gerald_D]

Fabrica, nobody can predict annual sales at this stage. I suggest you turn the question around and ask them what the smallest batch is that they will be interested in, and then we can see if we collect the interest. They are getting free advertising here (I could even make a banner for them if their quality is good) so they must judge the risk of a business decision from their side. They already have an idea how many people buy V-rollers (for CNC) from them, so they are actually in a better position to estimate the rail quantity. A big issue for them is whether they should simply copy the BWC/Hepco rails, or whether they go to market with an "angle iron" rail.

My gut feel is that the "angle iron" rail could get a nice market - it is a strong rail, gear racks are simple to fit, and the rail carries on a big face making shimming easy.

That link to lm76 looks typical of hundreds of linear rail suppliers. All those that I've tried have huge prices....

[fabrica]

Yes Gerald, I accept your viewpoint on this issue. As you have said they are trying to pass the ball to us and trying to get us comitted on a sales figure. I will get in touch with them again and see what they could do offer to us. My thinking is that if we could get the rails at a competitive price we all could save time and concentrate on things which are more important matters than this. Specially on components and knowhow which cannot be bought off the shelf.

When we go through the download page in this website their are a lot more components to be completed.

[Greg Waggy]

Gerald, In reply to your post numner 391, styrofoam would weigh a lot less than wood and therefore be a lot cheaper in shipping.

[John_H]

Naturally those guys aren't going to want to
tool-up for a few thousand feet of rail. They sell
container loads of bearings worldwide. This is the reason we who are trying to make these machines are going to have to get over our major reliances on "suppliers". What do we need. A straight bar of
steel 10 feet long. We are making machines that cut
to thousandths of an inch. Of course we can back up
and make a tool to make that rail. Grinders and spindles are pretty easy things to make. I have some other things I have to finish, but this "rail" problem is brewing in my mind.

John

[Gerald_D]

Regarding the source of rails, we musn't get hung up on finding absolute precision ground rail to build a CNC router capable of cutting kitchen counter tops and kiddie's jigsaw puzzles. My rails, produced with a common old milling machine, are doing a very nice job. Some guys even run V-rollers directly on the natural edge of angle iron and get a good result. So, let's not over-emphasise this ground-and-polished rail issue. Sure, if we can get such things at a good price, fine. But it is not absolutely essential.

As far as "straight" goes, that is an unreachable goal and we might as well discard it early. Rails are bent when you pick them up or screw them down. A rail that looks straight when lying on two trestles will be completely curved when you turn it over - gravity does that. The only requirements for rails are that they are free of of small lumps and bumps - the bigger lumps and bumps are cured (or caused) when the rails are screwed to its base. In this regard, a Hepco/BWC rail is no easier to install than a milled chunk of angle iron. (When I sight down that short piece of gauge plate mentioned for the z-rail, I can literally see how much I can bend it left/right just between my hands!)

Sure, it will be a pleasure to install a sturdy, straight, precision rail, but it is not an absolute requirement for producing a production CNC router that turns out furniture and décor all day long.

[John_H]

When I say straight, I don't necessarily mean
straight on an atomic level. Everything is flexible to some degree. I'm working with 3 ft sections (relatively short pieces) of 1.5 inch drill rod at the
moment and they are easily "flexed".

You're right. I or you or the next guy is not going
to make a "straight" rail if you want to look at it that way.

I wonder if a "straighten-able" rail could be produced. Maybe a "usable" rail?

John

[Gerald_D]

John, I believe that if you came up with a "nice- looking" (?) angle iron rail, there would be a huge market of armchair shoppers wanting to buy it http://www.mechmate.com/Forum/clipart/happy.gif. Notice that BWC/Hepco don't publish any specs on the "accuracy" of their rails and I suspect people buy it mostly because of its reputation and because you can buy it on-line. My rant above was another attempt to de-bunk the myth that rails must be bought instead of made.

[John_H]

I'm not really interested in selling anything.
But, I am absolutley convinced that this angle
on this piece of angle-iron is easily homemade.

The bearings like you made would be one of the last real barriers to the average guy. I believe they
were CNC turned and then hardened. I can make a few(enough) by hand but I still have to have them hardened. Haven't figured that out yet.

BTW, Have you thought about starting a post over
on cnczone.com? You deserve a lot more attention
than you're getting. There are lots of people with
experience on these big steel tables.

John

[fabrica]

How important is it to harden the V rail. In this country hardening facililties are hard to come by speically 11 foot lenths. Can somebody suggest to me a way out. I could buy BWC rail and fix it on to a machined L iron. I have spoken to several machine shops and their thinking is also on the same lines as mine.

[Gerald_D]

Who said you had to harden the V-rail? It is not specified on the drawings for the MechMate.

[fabrica]

Will their be no wear and tear on the rail and if it is not hardened how long will it last according to your experience.

[Gerald_D]

Our ShopBot that is now 6 years old has rails only 4.5mm thick/wide and the v-roller is size 2 (about 30mm diam.). In other words a smaller wheel on a narrower rail. We can see some wear on those rails, but it is not necessary to replace them yet.

The MechMate has 6mm wide rails with 40mm diam rollers. After 1 year I can see no wear at all - the marks left by the milling machine are still visible. My estimate on the life of this rail would have to be a lot higher than 6 years.

(Both machines have soft angle iron rails - there are about 3000(?) ShopBots with those thinner rails and I havn't heard of the rails being replaced due to wear and tear)

[fabrica]

Thanks for your info. You have given me enough confidence to have another round of discussions with the machine shop guys tomorrow.

Gerald one more question in our own workshop we do have a lathe machine and a shaper with 600 mm stroke is their any way that we could use the machines to do this job.

[Gerald_D]

For the V-topped rails, I am sorry, but those machines won't help you. The lathe will do all the jobs where the drawing number ends with a T (for turning). A 600mm stroke shaper is a beast of a machine! I'd like to see one in real life again - they are getting scarce in machine shops now that milling machines can do roughing cuts. Right now I cannot think where a shaper will help you with a MechMate. Sorry.

[Gerald_D]

Open thread for collecting posts from other threads.....


By fabrica on Tuesday, November 07, 2006 - 03:17 am:

Gerald What do you think of the Yitong offer which I have copied above. They have agreed to do the Rail as well. Maybe we could get them to do a rail as per Mechmate specs and get them to offer our guys a special price. If you are agreeable to this you could post the specs on this thread so that I could immedietly convey them to the manufacturer and get them to quote a price.

By vadeem on Tuesday, November 07, 2006 - 04:11 am:

How would we safely ship 10 or 12 foot rails?

By fabrica on Tuesday, November 07, 2006 - 04:21 am:

To ship rails safely wood crates should do a good job. I am waiting for Gerald to give me the specs so that I could have a serious discussion with the Yitong guy.

[Gerald_D]

By fabrica on Friday, November 10, 2006 - 05:40 am:

Below given is the latest reply I received from Yitong.

Regarding the rail, we are still in the calculation of the cost, our engineer suggest
that is possible you can still use the profile of the BWC design. If use your design,
we need to develop the model, and you should pay the mold cost which will increase
you cost.

What do you guys think.

By Gerald_D on Friday, November 10, 2006 - 07:04 am:

Fabrica, on the rails, I don't believe that Yitong is a willing partner that will undertake any expense for a new product line. They apparently are only willing to copy what other companies sell already. There is no way that I pay any company for mold/tool costs unless that mold/tool is under my control - in other words, checking that extra parts are not made from tools that I paid for.

Frankly and unfortunately, I believe the MechMate group is still too small to get into bulk buys and joint tooling costs. However, if suppliers want to take the initiative to help us, I will give them good advertising here.

[John_H]

Hi Gerald,
How bad can it be to use some soft steel roller
on a soft steel rail. Wouldn't it work harden to
some degree? Many of us don't have access to machine shops and especially hardening facilities. If they had to be replaced every so often, that's not so bad is it?

Thanks
John

[fabrica]

If so will a surface grinder do the needfull.

[Gerald_D]

I think that soft wheels will give a couple of months of life, if not years. Guys like fabrica will not be wasting their time to make a first set of wheels from un-hardened steel. Any guy that knows his way with a standard (non-CNC) lathe should be able to use drawing M1 20 121 T to make passable wheels.

I am promoting hardened wheels because those are the ones I have experience with (and because there is this huge belief that there is only ONE wheel, the BWC/Hepco dualvee). I would love to see someone's experience with un-hardened wheels - these won't damage the rails, and hardened wheels can be fitted later.

Normal mild steels and angle irons don't really work harden.

[Gerald_D]

Fabrica, the biggest problem with cutting the rails to shape is to clamp the rails down straight. (The rails must be clamped about every 100mm to prevent vibration of the milling cutters.)

I don't know of 45 degrees stones used in a surface grinder, but that may be possible. Even in the grinder you will need to clamp the rails down straight.

With both methods, milling or grinding, you can only do maybe 600 to 800mm at a time. Then you must loosen all the clamps, move the rails, clamp everything straight again and do a new section. It is a tedious job, but it needs to be done.

There are some specialised smachines for doing long rails by they are very rare. A planer grinder, or a bedway grinder comes to mind - they are used to produce the beds of lathes. But please don't think you need the precision implied by grinding. A tolerance of 0.2mm om the milling is adequate.

[Greg Waggy]

Gerald,

This might be the best time to lay out your mounting holes and use them for your clamping points, ya think? Also, I think I saw where someone used some angle iron inverted so you can get a good 45 degree angle for grinding. It wouldn't take much then to mount the rail(s) and then grind them.

[John_H]

Thanks Gerald,

That one single answer now makes the machine a
real possibility for many more people.

Here's a link to a surface-hardening compound.

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PMAKA=505-0271&PMPXNO=945421&PARTPG=INLMK3

I haven't ever tried it but maybe someone who knows will give their opinion on such a thing.

Thanks
John

[Greg Waggy]

John,

I wonder how that works? I was thinking along the lines or oil drenching for hardening.

[John_H]

Hi Greg,

Click on the enco page where it says "Master Catalog Page 648", they say how it works.

John

[Gerald_D]

Kasenit is good for case-hardening small parts such as the pinion gears. Parts need to be red hot before being dunked into the Kasenit. You are going to need a long oven and a lot of Kasenit before you can dunk a rail.... Plus, you have the usual heat-distortion problems.

[Greg Waggy]

Thanks John, I just looked it up in my catalog. I guess its just a dip process and for small parts it looks like it would work. I wonder if you leave the part longer if the hardness gets deeper. $9.71 (on sale)a quart isn't too bad. I have dealt with Enco and they are good.

[Greg Waggy]

Well, here's the scoop I just got on Kasenit.

Notes:

Produces a wear surface (surface hardening) on low carbon steel, low alloy steel, iron.

Non-poisonous, non-explosive.

Application instructions (from Kasenit) for Low Alloy or Low Carbon Steel:
There are two methods of application.
Method A: Heat the work uniformly to a bright red (1650 - 1700 degrees F), remove any scale with a wire brush, dip, roll or sprinkle the Kasenit powder on the component. The powder will melt and adhere to the surface, forming a shell around the work. Reheat to 1650 - 1700 degrees F, hold at this temperature for a few minutes and quench in to clean cold water. This will give the component a completely hard case of uniform character and depth.

Method B: If a deeper case is required, then a container for the compound can be used. A discarded can, lid or tray is suitable for this purpose, but care must be taken to burn off the tin coating before use. Completely cover the component with compound and heat to a bright red (1650 degrees F) for five to thirty minutes, depending upon the depth of case required. Quench only the component in clean, cold water unsing dry tongs for handling.

Rates of Penetration: After heating the component to 1650 F using method B,

Case depth .005, Time 15 minutes

Case depth .010, Time 30 minutes

Case depth .015, Time 40 minutes

Case depth .020, Time 50-55 minutes

Method for Cast or Tool Steel:
Heat the article to a light yellow. Deposit it in powder and leave it there until its right tempering heat is reached (see list below). Then plunge the metal into clean, cold water. This will bring out the hardness and also prevent cracking.

Heat Tempering List:

Small cutting or turning tools, cutting edges of knives, planing tools and reamers, small case hardened parts:
Light straw color, 440 F

Carbon steel milling cutters, large cutting or turning tools, slotting tools and small punches or dies:
Straw color, 460 F

Drills, small taps, profile cutters, screwing dies and hammers:
Dark straw, 480 F

Press dies, shears, wood cutting tools:
Orange, 500 F

Chisels, large punches, pressing dies and cutlery:
Light purple, 525 F

Saws, drifts, large dies and heavy chisels:
Purple, 540 F

Springs or portions of tools to be locally tempered to give maximum resilience:
Blue, 560 F

[John_H]

Greg,
.020 is very good depth. I use enco a lot.

I was thinking more along the lines of the bearings
for the Kasenit...At least something would be
hardened. I do get your point though...distortion.

John

[Gerald_D]

Okay guys, this is the RAIL thread. Case-hardening is not suitable for the rails. In fact, let's not create a perception that the rails need hardening.

[Greg Waggy]

Sorry Gerald. I guess we were just trying to figure out a way (reason) to harden rails. The place you sent me are WAY out of line for pricing. I agree, if you have good bearings and the wheels on those bearings are smooth, you shouldn't need to harden the rails.

[Gerald_D]

Forget about Kasenit hardening of the wheels as well - they won't be round after that process because it is a relatively thin ring. The pinion gears are a different story - they are "chunky" and have no noticeable distortion.

Back to cutting a V-cap on those rails now......

[John_H]

Here's a crude sketch of supporting rails as they're being ground, using homemade rollers from short
section of pipe.

http://www.mechmate.com/Forum/messages/11/1938.gif

John

[Gerald_D]

My milling machine guy did the following things:

1. Used a single 45 degree bevel cutter with flat bottom:
http://www.mechmate.com/Forum/messages/11/1940.jpg
no tool changes, no need to calibrate various tools

2. Screwed a solid back fence to the milling machine table. 150 x 15mm flat bar. Skimmed a reference face on the front face of this flat bar, parallel to the long axis.

3. Rigged up trestles on both sides of the milling machine to carry the weight of rail that wasn't supported by the table.

4. Rigged clamps to hold the rail down to the bed, rigged wedges to push the rail against the parallel back fence

5. Cut the three faces.

He did say that in future he would think of having some loaded rollers (or greased guide plates) so that he could simply push the rail through while the cutter position stayed fixed. The actual cut is very light.

(I wouldn't give the milling guy a set of pre-drilled holes because they are too small and far apart for milling forces. Let him take full responsibility for his clamping)

[Gerald_D]

Didn't see the last few posts while I was typing...

Check the diameter of a grinding wheel needed for 45 degrees on the inside of the angle iron...(112.6mm max)

Sure, a grinding system can be constructed, but it is not as simple as the gauge-plate/table-saw arrangement. The milling machine method does work as well.

[John_H]

Fortunately I have a mill, and that's how I'd do
it. My idea's with the grinder are mainly for
the guy who doesn't.

Just trying to add some options for those guy's
to look at http://www.mechmate.com/Forum/clipart/happy.gif

John

[Greg Waggy]

Gerald, Now that cutter would work very nicely. ENCO has them ranging in price from $22.00 USD to $35.00 USD. That's not a bad price range. Just double cut each side of the rail and you are done.

[Gerald_D]

Here is another exotic option: Plate beveller (http://www.weldingdesign.com/323/Issue/Article/False/11267/Issue). Almost like running a woodwork router along an edge.......

[Greg Waggy]

It's produced by http://www.heckind.net/products.htm I guess you have to write for prices but their 3000 model would work for what we are doing.

[Greg Waggy]

Maby this one would be better.

http://www.heckind.net/benchbeveler/benchbeveler.html

[Gerald_D]

Some more (http://images.google.com/images?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD%2CGGLD:2005-07%2CGGLD:en&q=Bevel%2dMill) - notice the modified angle-grinder concept.....

[Greg Waggy]

Here's another toy we could make using these ideas. An inverted router on a table with the right bits and fence would allow you to do the same thing.... When that CNC Mill isn't being used you could use the 3 1/2 HP router to make other things.

[Gerald_D]

A 3 1/2 HP router doesn't like putting out power at less than 15 000 rpm, what cutter will cut steel at that speed? Drill press speeds are more suitable........

[Gerald_D]

Inverted router on table.....drillpress....
Those ideas could link back to a milling machine, but sliding the rails through guides while the table stays static. See again what my guy said in my post of 8.39pm: "...in future he would think of having some loaded rollers (or greased guide plates) so that he could simply push the rail through while the cutter position stayed fixed. The actual cut is very light." http://www.mechmate.com/Forum/clipart/happy.gif

If anyone does build a handfed device, you must feed against the cutter rotation to prevent the the cutter from grabbing the rail and breaking things.

[John_H]

Gerald,

"If anyone does build a handfed device, you must feed against the cutter rotation to prevent the the cutter from grabbing the rail and breaking things."

Excellent advice!

John

[Greg Waggy]

John,

I give it a try. Here's the picture I wanted to include when I got the error message.

http://www.mechmate.com/Forum/messages/11/1947.jpg

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PMAKA=367-7114&PMPXNO=950273&PARTPG=INLMK3

$34.25 Page 80 of their catalog

[John_H]

Greg,
I've seen the drill conversion. I think(simply an
opinion) that by the time you rework the head,
because the stock quill isn't going to handle
the lateral forces, you'd have to much $$ tied
up in it.

An idea is to use the head from a standard
mini-mill which one could get wordwide or here
in the U.S. as a repair item from littlemachineshop.com. As a single-purpose
tool/machine it could be bolted to something
extremely ridgid.

John

[John_H]

The more I think about...and I do, By weighing
costs, availability of tools, how much of it one
person would actually need, it looks like Gerald's
table saw idea is probably the shortest of shortcuts.

For light production, light $$ has to be spent. I'd look at the grinding rig.

John

[Greg Waggy]

I wonder how much the blade for the saw will cost? Also, you might be better off to cut/grind on the back side of the saw so that the blade is coming up rather than grinding down.

[John_H]

I just bought 2 from Harbor Freight on sale
for $3.99 ea. Mine are 14" "Abrasive Cut-off Wheels",
14" is to big for a table saw, but that tells you
they ain't expensive or hard to come by.

Look at the way Gerald did it. He's "been there-done that"

John

[Gerald_D]

Good Morning, I see you are still at it! The times on the posts are my local time.

Take a break from the V-cap for a while and think how to remove about 12mm [1/2"] or more of surplus width from that angle iron. (Without distorting it too much - shearing and flame-cutting are out of the question)

By the way, a 110mm [4.5"] diam grind wheel will make a hollow face on a V-cap by only 0.03mm[0.001"] which should be okay for a roller.

[Greg Waggy]

How about a metal bandsaw with a rip-fence set up? As for the "V" cap, just one more comment and then I'll let it rest. Why couldn't you use a good bench grinder to cut the faces?

[Gerald_D]

http://www.mechmate.com/Forum/messages/11/1949.gif

[Gerald_D]

This is the fit if a 102mm [4"] diam. grindstone is used. The gap (if you can see it on your screen) is only 0.030 mm [0.0012"]

http://www.mechmate.com/Forum/messages/11/1951.gif

The gap is actually a lot smaller than what I was thinking before. Now that I've drawn it accurately, I reckon this type of rail will be 100% http://www.mechmate.com/Forum/clipart/happy.gif

[Gerald_D]

Here is Gert cutting rails on a bandsaw and then on a milling machine:


http://www.mechmate.com/Forum/messages/11/2545.jpg
http://www.mechmate.com/Forum/messages/11/2546.jpg
The sawing is between scribed lines (no fence) down to 26mm.

http://www.mechmate.com/Forum/messages/11/2547.jpg
http://www.mechmate.com/Forum/messages/11/2548.jpg
http://www.mechmate.com/Forum/messages/11/2549.jpg
http://www.mechmate.com/Forum/messages/11/2550.jpg
http://www.mechmate.com/Forum/messages/11/2551.jpg
http://www.mechmate.com/Forum/messages/11/2552.jpg

[Travish]

Hello Gerald,

I must commend you on all your efforts! Well done Mate. I am new here to your forum, and I am enjoying watching the few that are actually getting down to business. Great job on keeping your forum clean and organized. The site is easy to use and get around. I have been a Machinist for about 15 years now. This is an awesome project that my wife and I are considering building. Ok enough allready...

This guy doing the rails on a milling machine here, I'm curious how he is doing the X axis rails? Since they are so long, he must be unclamping them, then sliding them down, and reclamping, followed by a bit of hand blend work. Interesting to see how people get by with what they have available to them. Looks like he has a good set up there.

Cheers.

[Gerald_D]

Welcome Travish! Yes, those rails are unclamped, slid along and re-clamped. Havn't seen signs of hand blend work, but you machinists are good at this, aren't you? http://www.mechmate.com/Forum/clipart/wink.gif

[Travis H]

Yes, your right it is all about technique. There is more than one way to make a cut in this trade. Cool to see the different ways to do the rails. I too am thinking about how I would do the rails. If I decide to build, I'm going to go with a 4x8' machine. I have access to a mill that has 8ft of travel, even at that, I will still have to re-clamp. Shouldn't be a problem though. just would be nice to do it in all in one go. It will be interesting to see what Fabrica comes up with.

[Gerald_D]

The beds that the rails screw to are very solid - there is nothing wrong with a carefully aligned joint in the rail. Only one wheel out of 4 need to cross a joint at a time.

[James Webster]

Gerald,

What HP and overall size is that bandsaw Gert is using to rip those rails?

How long did it take to cut a foot of metal?

I ask because my welder says it would take "forever" to rip 1/4" angle on this bandsaw:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93762

[Gerald_D]

Hi James, the bandsaw you linked to is the baby brother of the one that Gert has. He has this one:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93507.
I'll ask him how long it took....

I do know the smaller version as well, and I tend to agree with your welder. There is a big difference in performance between these two models of bandsaw. We use the small one for thin-walled tube, under 2mm - still a handy machine though.

[phil bizley]

Gerald,Would i be able to cut the 6mm rails with the small bandsaw,(can't afford the larger one 700.00 pounds here in the uk) I have tried the evolution saw and made the jig for the angle grinder but the cuts are really wavey.i dont mind how long it takes as long as it will cut the rails down.Phil

[Gerald_D]

Phil, the small bandsaw will probably take 50 to 75% of the time some vigorous manual hacksawing would take. Snag is that the small one snaps blades too easily.

The grinder with thin, edge-cutting disk does make a wavey cut, but the straightness comes when the thick, face-cutting disk is used. Well, at least as straight as the angle iron itself - is your iron straight to start with?

[phil bizley]

yes it's straight enough,i have been trying all day and getting nowhere.i just bought a small bandsaw from my local machine supplier and can see what you mean,very slow.oh well thats another tool to add to my collection.guess i'll go back to the thin disk and thick grinding disk.by the way i could not get the thin pferd disk only the 2.5mm thick ones so i bought some other make thin ones 1mm,

[phil bizley]

gerald. i ment to tell you that the evolution metal cutting saw cuts it like butter.cant keep it straight though.maybe fixed in a bench with a guid fence might work better,

[Hugo Carradini]

This post originally made here (http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4823&postcount=49)

J.R Nice peace of art. :)Because you are capable of doing such a beauty, I want to ask you if you have seen working

http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNSRIT?PMCTLG=00&PMAKA=09544669&partnerURL=http://catalogs.shoplocal.com/mscdirect/index.aspx%6Fpagename=shopmain%50circularid=11264% 50pagenumber=2458%50mode=

359

I am thinking very seriously like I told Gerald at the beginning in making Mechmates for selling and started looking for the correct tools to organize my shop ¿If I wanted to do various rails could this machine work for the Mechmate rails? ¿Would it reach the space left to bevel in the angle?
There is a smaller one
http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNSRIT?PMCTLG=00&PMAKA=09544651&partnerURL=http://catalogs.shoplocal.com/mscdirect/index.aspx%6Fpagename=shopmain%50circularid=11264% 50pagenumber=2458%50mode=

360

I want something to make my rails with the precision required and don't have the tools (and the skill) :oto make one like yours.
P.D. All opinions are welcome and hope my English is understandable.

[Gerald D]

These machines all leave a fairly rough finish because they use a low-speed cutter and they are not a high-speed grinder like in the "JR Skate"

[Hugo Carradini]

Thank guys for the feed back.
Before a meet Gerald and his Mechmate I was trying to build something strong enough for medium commercial production. After I found Gerald's beauty and the great opportunity he offers I decided to build those beasts ,that I know I can sell in my country. That is why I been asking about different tools and machinery adequate for this project. I love build in this design and now I am very interested build in a Mechmate plasma version . I haven't talk nothing officially to Gerald yet, because I want to show first my finished machine like he suggested the first time I contac him. I don't plan in getting rich with this but the satisfaction doing this and checking every day the forum and learning with you guys make me feel:):D;):cool::):)
Right now I am concerned in the rails because I would like to make them my self, because a cannot import them. The rest is fairly easy to import (Hope I can keep counting with Donald) Any advise or suggestions to adequate my shop to this protect will be very appreciated.:)