Alternative for grinding rails...
 

I have NO idea if these would work to grind the rails but I though I'd pass this along. Personally I find that the MechMate skate works fine. Maybe someone doing production MechMates would find use with these...


http://www.csunitec.com/magneticdrills/beveler.html

http://www.csunitec.com/images/beveler/degrees.jpg

http://www.csunitec.com/images/beveler/application.jpg

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http://www.toolfetch.com/Category--M...es--BM20.shtml

http://www.oceanmachinery.com/bevele...teel-bevel.htm

http://www.jancy.com/index.cfm?fusea...t&productid=88

http://www.toolfetch.com/media/21150.jpg


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http://www.wttool.com/product-exec/p...term=3075-1500

http://www.wttool.com/images/large/30751500.jpg

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http://www.southern-tool.com/store/H...Model3000.html

http://www.southern-tool.com/store/m.../bevel3000.jpg

These are some very interesting tools, I wonder what they cost? I couldn't find a price. The first picture of the tool head for the side grinder??? could possibly be used to rough grind the rail then use the regular skate to do the final grind.

The SteelMax works so well, I have been thinking of designing a skate for something like this tool. I believe that Mickey used a cutter like this for his steel and maybe he could comment on its capabilities.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...0P?vName=Tools

1. Cutting the rail down with the SteelMax
2. Cutting the bevel with the TwinCutter
3. Dressing the bevel with the 'normal' skate

Obviously, this would only be for anyone wishing to make more than the usual amount of rail stock.

Some of those are impressive indeed… for industries or specialty shops….:o
Allow me to bring a touch of « ( let’s stay grounded ) or ( back on hearth ) » !!
At nearly 40% of the total built cost, I’ll stick to the proposed “ell simple grinder” at nearly 10% of that cost !:rolleyes:

Attachment 1464

Attachment 1465

No offence intended or implied, just my point of view expressed !
Amicalement, Robert ;)

Robert
That Canadian Tire grinder is the exact one that I used. In fact, at that price, I bought 3 of them. I have one set up for the 45 degree skate and one with a cut off wheel for cutting down the angle. I keep one for spare. They worked great . I hope to built a second MechMate someday. I had 2 sets of Mamba parts laser cut so I quess I have already started.

Paul

Paul,
Did you have to modify the skate at all? I have one of those as well, so I am hoping it fit easily. :)

If you were planning to build say, 50 MechMates, the cost would be recouped fairly soon - to say nothing of the improvement in quality. I would surely not recommend any of these for one-off MechMates.

Thanks,
david

That machine does an "okay" job, but a few things lacking in it's performance....I tried it!
- machine fence depth is to deep for the inside cut for the MM rails
- the machine is designed to prep steel plate for welding, not machined surface rails, thus the cut quality is a little "abrasive and chattery"
- Darn thing is really expensive!

It would be more cost effective to buy a large 7 or 10" grinder and mount to a real linear rail for a production set up. Very a kin to to what shopbot has done for years. Grinder-on-a-rail set up.

Thanks for the photo's! It makes the forum interesting for all.

Keep up the posting ya'll.

Heath,

This type of grinder is not a direct fit to the grinder skate part ( #M6 10 115 A), different housing !
BUT… if you have not yet sub your laser parts yet, I’ve made another DXF for this type of grinder. If your interested, Email me and I’ll reply back with the file if you like it ?
Here’s a peek at it :Attachment 1466

Later, Robert ;)

Robert,
Yes I have already cut the grinder skate to Geralds dimensions. I think Paul had the skate cut to stock dimensions also. I just wondered if he had any problems adapting it to the Canadian Tire grinder. I can get another grinder for this job, its not that big a deal. :)

Hi guys

I edited the DXF laser cut file to fit the Canadian Tire grinder. I have attached (I am going to try) the file and a couple of pics. Apparently, I cannot attach DXF files. I will e-mail the m to you if you contact me at - cobra427@mnsi.net.

Paul

Paul -

Can you tell me what the ID of that main hole is? I had to open up the hole on my skate when I could not purchase the recommended grinder (discontinued).

Thanks,
david

Hi David

The diameter of the hole is 51mm (slightly over 2").

Interesting Paul !

I Though of my version in order so it mounts to the grinder wheel guard attaching point , right under the inner flange!
I haven’t tried mine yet, it’s only at the beta version, no arms done yet !
You, on the other hand went with the lower attachment. How’s the disc offset when on rails ?
Did you grind any rails yet ?
Robert :o

Robert

Yes, the rails are all done. The skate worked like a charm.

I see you guys are finding many alternatives so I thought I would put this out. Why cut them as a v why not just add a round rod on top of flat stock and have your v rollers run on the rod? This way you will have less contact and less chance of debris getting under rollers. Abe

Actually I think this was already done - the man from Dallas Texas that built the really long MechMate. Two issues I can see -

• The contact area with the V-rollers is much smaller, resulting in greater wear. If you switched to "half circle?" bearings that problem seems like it would go away.
• Getting "pencil rod" to weld to the rail would be complicated and error prone - that's even if the rod was completetly straight when you get it (mine is often slightly bent due to the way the loading guys drag them to the trailer).

Another possiblity would be to just leave the rails flat. Then just turn your bearings with a square instead of a triangle profile. I suspect there is a reason we don't do this already (anyone?).

David

Art is the name of the guy. Here is his website:

http://www.turningaround.org/4_axis_mill.htm

Here is a quote from his website (hope Art doesn't mind):

The biggest profanity producer of the MechMate design is the rails. You either buy rails or make you own. Making your own is a several day dirty job unless you have a mill. Neither option appealed to me. First I tried 1/4" rod and that was a bust as I couldn't it straight enough. Next I tried 1/2" angle flipped over with the 90 degree up. I tack welded both ends and the stretched a fine wire from end to end . The wire gave me the straight line reference and the angle iron was weak enough that it was easy to align and tack weld every 6" yet has more than enough strength to support the gantry. This worked great except I couldn't do height adjustment so the rail had the same sag as the frame. So I spent the $250 USD to get the rails from Superior Bearing.

Maybe there arn't any free lunches...

This is the best option I've seen. This is post #17 in my personal thread.
My rails are working great, I think it was 9 hours well spent.

This was a year ago.

"Mon 11 June 2007, 16:25
J.R. Hatcher Just call me: J.R. from N.C.I.A.M.T.S.F.
Wilmington, North Carolina
United States of America

As the work continues! The foot switch proved to be a life saver when it came time to tap all those threads. It took about 9 hours to cut, grind, and bevel the rails (2 pcs 12' and 2 pcs 8' rough lengths) and they came out even better than I expected (Gerald, the skateboard works great). The masking tape makes layout a lot easier, and if you mess up it's easy to remove and start over."
http://www.mechmate.com/forums/attac...1&d=1181592326

Yes JR, your skate concept has been proved a couple of times by various users.

This thread will now be closed, and archived in due course. It is causing a distraction to "newbies" who don't know where to start anymore.