Robert,

Thanks. I am pleased with the progress and I am very happy with the results.

I am learning lots and so far I have only made a few mistakes. I am getting very excited. I am hoping that we will be able to start welding on Friday.

Nils,
Since you are using the superior rail for the z, are you just using mild steel for the plate or did you go for the tool steel? Did you have to change the width of the plate much to accommodate the rails? Great progress!

Good stuff Nils,

If you think building is fun, wait till the beast is cutting. It only gets better. :)

Amen ! This machine is fantastic to have. The opportunities are limitless.

Nils, nice progress!

Did you drill your cross supports (under the table) right through both flanges of the channel?

Gerald
we did drill straight through. I found it was really easy to drill from under the table to get the spoilboard registration correct. Not to mention, it makes laying out all those holes A lot simpler. I did this on my table and found it worked really well.
The little helper. Sean

Gerald,

Sean did not mention that the holes are 3/16" in the bottom flange of the cross bearer.

I am making good progress.

Heath, I did not use tool steel for the plate. The rails looks really good.

As I mentioned, it will be interesting to see how the MM performs with the new rails.

I hope to paint the Z plate and tube today. Pictures will continue to arrive.

Since the table material is forgiving wood, we happily drilled at an angle up through the table, and didn't bother with taper washers. The screw head compressed the wood to match the slight angle.

Gerald.
Good point!
Heath, Nils did not use tool steel, but we did us Cold Roll Flat 1/4 x 4" x 24" A fair compromise since Nils is using the factory made vee rail.
....back to watching Nils work in the shop. It's fun watching someone else work on the machine for a change!:D

To All,

Sean my watch and he is good at that but he gives really good advise and I would not be where I am with out the use of his shop and tools.

Gantry tubes drilled and taped.

Friday, the aluminum for the rails arrives and hopefully if Sean's real work doesn't get in the way, he will weld and I will do some watching and fetching.

If there is time, the aluminum will be milled and cut to size and drilled.

Sean was busy on Saturday. He welded the table so it now has feet.

Today, I cleaned the cross bearers and started to paint them. 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.

Z Plate and Tube painted but I am cooking them in the heat before I assemble. Pictures on these later.

Nils, Sean,
I like your idea of drilling through the cross bearers so you can just drill up through the support and spoilboard. Did you have any problem with drill bit wander as the channel is not flat on the inside? What was the reasoning of the 3/16 holes in the bottom? The top holes are still 3/8 correct?

Sean, It would really like to hear your opinion of the capped rail solution, cost vs time etc since you will have built or helped build both versions. I am still on the fence a little for this part of my build as I am sure some others as well.

thanks for the great pics and detailed logs! :)

Hi Nils,
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.

Ed,

Thanks for the suggestion but you are a day late. The aluminum came yesterday and I cut it to size. We will use what we have. Hopefully some one else can use your suggestion.

Sorry I been out of the loop for awhile building a tube amp for a friend:)

Ed,

I just sent a 10lb piece of solid steel to a friend for his amp.

That is interesting, I did the faceplate and engraved all the part placements on the circut board with my MM. The circut board was a little hard to read even with paint in the engraved parts, but all the guys at the tube amp forum thought it was an awesome idea.:)

BTW I like how you cutt the ends of your long channels, not as sharp of an angle as there is when you cutt it all the way to the corner like most of them.

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? :)

Sean,
I think it was a Tai TakeAWAY meal if I remember. Over hear its takeout and there takeaway. ;) And the women play hockey. :eek:

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. :)

Yesterday, turned out to be a most interesting day.

We turned the table right side up and I started to drill the aluminum so we can marry aluminum and channel for the rails.

The interesting part was after I had packed the truck and I pushed the passenger sit back. About 3 weeks ago, I bought a 2002 Nissan Frontier King Cab. Has a small space behind the Driver and passenger sit for two very small people or for storage. Very nice White truck with grey interior. In very good shape out and in side.

That pushing of the sit back did not sit well with the rattler that was sitting on the floor behind the passenger seat. That is MM Blue rattler spray can! It along with 3 other cans were in a partially closed plastic shopping bag. One of them got pierced by the seat mechanism when I pushed the seat back. The next thing I hearding was the hissing of the can.

It took me a few seconds to associate the hissing sound to the can. I quickly grabbed the bag and pulled them out of the car because I could see blue paint. After removing the bag, I looked inside to see how much damage there was. There was blue paint in many places. There was blue paint on the outside and all over my arms, hands and body. There was also a large gabage size spot on the concrete.

I quickly ran inside and picked up a large container of Minieral Spirits and started cleaning up. Sean's associate brought me a can of Acetone.

I was surprised that I was able to clean the paint off of the inside and outside of the Truck. When I got home, I removed the passenger seat from the truck and continued to find more paint but I was able to clean it up.

It wasn't until I looked in the mirror did I see my face.

Lesson learned: If you are going to carry rattler cans in the inside of your vehicle besure they are safe from puncturing.

Gerald,

If you had been there when the can exploded and you realized that your new truck was going to be covered in Blue paint, you would not be laughing. But yes, after having cleaned it all up and I am surprised that I have been able to get it all up, I can also laugh.

I only have to deal with the smell that is still there and I hope that I don't find more paint spots when I look in the truck today.

I thought you and the gang would enjoy my little adventure.

No that is a Mech Mate fan...even his face is Ford Tractor Blue..:D:D

...this is what I get for leaving Nils a key to my shop! :)

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 past 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.