Today, I drilled preholes in the Superior Bearing Guide Wheel Track. I decided not to buy the predrilled ones.

Nils, how straight are those rails when you lay them side to side? It might be interesting to you that during their production, the last step after hardening, is to bend them straight. They are not machined straight.

Are you keeping to the 3" hole spacing? Or have you stretched them a little?

Gerald,

I will check the straightness but while working on them they seemed very straight.

We talked about spreading the holes further apart but decided that it would be better to follow the manufacturer's spec so the holes are 3" apart. But we are thinking of taping the holes.

It will be interesting to see what operating difference these rails make over grinding the rails. I will keep you posted.

I have included a test assembly of the Z.

. . . . The aluminum did not come on Friday but it made it today. I have cut it to a reasonable length so it can be handled and ready to be attached to the machine. Still have to rip to size.

Copied from another thread:

Trident metals out of Dallas TX has in stock the 2-1/2 x 1 x 1/4 T6 aluminum angle, or at least the El Paso TX branch stocks it when I called about it last summer, so I assume since the Dallas Warehouse is the main supply for all Trident metals outlets that they would also carry it. I don't sell aluminum but since they stocked it I figured it was a common size in aluminum.

That way you do not have to rip or mill the one side of the angle, just drill and bolt on the rail.

2-1/2 x 1 x 1/4 T6 aluminum angle just so happens to be a non-stock item in these parts of the southeast. I have no idea why. My suppliers - all 3 major - stock 2 x 1 x .25....but nothing in 2.5/ Anyway, it's a quick operation on the table saw. The major factor cutting it down is amazing not an issue since the rail will sit on the inside of the extrusion and not the edge were cutting. Therefore, the reference edge will never be violated. Another idea that Gerald came up with over "Chinese takeout food" I think? :)

Amazing the stuff you guys remember! :D

Nils/Sean, how snugly does the V-Rail sit inside the corner of the alu? Is there enough radius/bevel on the V-Rail to clear the fillet in the alu?

PS. Nice work Ed!

Gerald,

We have not started to mate rail to aluminum. I can look at it today.

Gerald. The inside corner appears to be nice and sharp. I will let you know after Nils has finished his Drill-lots-of-holes homework. :)

Last few days, I have been dilling, taping the 152 holes in the aluminum that will hold the rails and the rails. Things are moving at a slower pace but things are moving forward.

More pictures soon.

Tapping holes in alu is a pleasure with a cordless drill and some kerosene [paraffin] :)

Gerald,

Taped the rails not the Aluminum.

I used both the sprial taps with a drill and hand tap. I broke the tip off the hand tape and I was able to get it out and taped the hole also.

I am learning a lot building this machine.

Gerald,

Here are some pictures.... But the rails are tight against the aluminum.

If you want additional pictures or a different view, let me know. The close ups I took are a bit fuzzie, I will retake.

Thanks for the pics. So, do the rails fit snugly into the corner of the alu?

Gerald,

Yes they fit tight. I will try and get you a close up of the end corner view on Saturday.

Nils,
The pictures look great. It looks like you needed two pieces of rail. What was the max length of rail you can get and what length of table are you using. The transition from one to the next looks really good. I am really eager to see what you think of the whole bolt on rail method once your machine is up and cutting. (As are a lot of others too I think)

The rail sections are 6' long, thus we used 2 sections.
We have offset them slightly to each other so no 2 rollers can ever occupy a joint line at the same time.
This was easier on the Y-axis - we were able to use a 3' and 4' and offset the joint lines as well.
I was concerned that I might have to root pass weld the vee-rail for alignment, but the alum angle did a fine job. It fits VERY nicely on the inside of the extrusion.
This solution works very well - so far. The proof will be in the finished machine. But I will admit, those superior bearing rails sure are nice :)

Heath,

It took me about 3-4 days to tap and drill holes in the rails and the aluminum. If I would have been more careful in my transfer and hole drilling of the aluminum, it may have taken a day less. The one thing that I didn't have to deal with is the grinding dust.

I hope that when I finish that we will be able to compare the performance of the two machines since they are with in 10' of each other.

It is great having Sean and his machine to give me guidance.

This week I finally got my 20 rails (total length 60meters [200 ft]) done for 5 MM's. I will be the first to agree that those V-Strip rails on alu look VERY attractive. It might be a slow process, but it is controllable and predictable. The cutting and grinding of angle iron is economical, but hot rolled iron doesn't give you a nice accurate line to work from.

Hello All,

I realize this is not within the original design, but I received this tech alert from GlobeSpec while on vacation and just opened it yesterday. BishopWisecarver has just released a cap that fits in standard 40mm aluminium extrusion and accepts their size #3 90 deg rail, the product is called QuickTrak.

The link is here http://www.bwc.com/products/quicktrak.html, this of course opens up a whole new can of worms for constructing the frame from extruded aluminium profiles, but also provides a very convenient means of mounting dual rails at a fixed distance while providing a ready made recess for bolt heads to secure the entire assembly to any welded or flat angle frame.
http://www.bwc.com/product_photo.php?product=35

I haven't checked the CAD profile yet, but it looks like there may even be space to mount a narrow rack (8 - 10mm) directly on the extrusion beside the QuickTrak retainer.

Just something new to consider ... it (extrusion bolt-up) would certainly bring the possibility of building a machine within the reach of folks who don't necessarily have access to the tooling or skills to construct the railing system and frame using the conventional means discussed so far!

Gerald,
I had one question on the alu/capped rail solution. Since the rail sits beside the alu andle, is there any need to adjust the width of the gantry or spacing of the rails that is different than the ground rail solution. I have looked over the plans repeatedly, but cant seem to find any reference to any dimensional differences due to this offset?

I wish BWC would draw rollers and a car riding on that track.....the overhang on the roller mountings would be quite a lot. (longish cantilever shaft with the roller at the end).

Heath, that falls within the M12 "thin" nut and M12 shim washers mentioned on M1 20 100 A. You might be able to use a "full" nut instead of a thin nut.

(I see that drawing does show the V-Cap on alu at top right)

Gerald,
Thanks, that was the part I was missing. Geez, think I could find that last night looking for it? I knew it was there somewhere. :)

V-Cap rail screw spacing
 

Hi MM community,
A big Thank you to everyone for giving me something to do everyday last past few weeks. Reading this forum became absolutely obsessive.
i wanted to upload what i call "completed mechanical stage". It is time for me to worry about electrical. I still have no clue after reading every single thread on the subject. I am very worried but i am sure I'll get there eventually.
I will update with my progress.
Cheers!

. . . . The only thing that worries me a little is spacing of the screws for the thin V-rails. I think it should be less than 100mm.

Gerald,
Space is 200 bet M6 screws on the v-rail. I will remember your warning and keep an eye and it. I will go back to the drill as much as necessary.

Fred, that spacing is okay for carrying the mass of the parts vertically downwards. However, the forces at the cutter are mainly horizontal, and wheels also experience quite a bit of horizontal pushing and pulling. My concern is when a wheel is between 2 screws and it has a sideways load of maybe 20 to 30 kg. The thin rail will not get a permanent bend, but it may have a vibration or resonance. Anyway, you are aware of it now and will be watching for it. Let's hope that it is going to work for you and need no more screws. :)

Are there any concerns about the aluminum sagging under the weight of the gantry? As I understand it, the aluminum arch. angle is bearing the full weight of the gantry, where it goes beyond the supporting steel. For those that are more aware of relative strengths of materials, should we be concerned about any sagging, or is it over such a short distance that any movement would be negligible at best?