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  #1  
Old Sun 24 January 2010, 15:38
blakekoehn
Just call me: Blake #47
 
Macon, MS
United States of America
Mounting the rack

Do you paint the rails and then mount the rack with the double sided tape or do you degrease the rails and mount the rack and then paint?

I know the tape will hold the rack because I work with that tape a lot in my sign business, but the tape is only as good as the paint underneath.

Does that paint wear out of the rack pretty quick or should I mask the rack if I paint after it is installed?

Thanks
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  #2  
Old Sun 24 January 2010, 17:11
lunaj76
Just call me: Justin #24
 
Littleton, (Colorado)
United States of America
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Blake,

I masked the v on the rails and painted only the tops. Then mounted the rails to the table and gantry then mounted the unpainted racks to the rails. Do not paint the racks!.
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  #3  
Old Sun 24 January 2010, 20:16
KenC
Just call me: Ken
 
Klang
Malaysia
Oh no... I'd painted the rail with Hammerite... now I have to strip the paint?
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  #4  
Old Sun 24 January 2010, 23:21
Gerald D
Just call me: Gerald (retired)
 
Cape Town
South Africa
We used the tape onto paint, but we made sure the rails were properly painted.

Check a sample to see if it peels your paint. If paint peels, it is a bad paint job, period!
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  #5  
Old Mon 25 January 2010, 01:17
KenC
Just call me: Ken
 
Klang
Malaysia
Thanks Gerald.
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  #6  
Old Mon 25 January 2010, 07:31
lunaj76
Just call me: Justin #24
 
Littleton, (Colorado)
United States of America
Send a message via Skype™ to lunaj76
We purchased tape that was spected for metal to metal. That is why we didn't paint the underside of the rails.
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  #7  
Old Sat 15 May 2010, 15:39
timberlinemd
Just call me: Steve #66
 
Arizona
United States of America
Must holes be blind on the Z rack?

I'm having a little trouble getting a tap that has a flat. What is the down side if I just drill straight thru the rack and tap it with a thru tap?
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  #8  
Old Sat 15 May 2010, 19:18
timberlinemd
Just call me: Steve #66
 
Arizona
United States of America
My solution was to take another tap the same size, cut it off, grind till flat!
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  #9  
Old Sat 15 May 2010, 22:31
Gerald D
Just call me: Gerald (retired)
 
Cape Town
South Africa
Steve, you should be tapping the rail, not the rack.
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  #10  
Old Sat 15 May 2010, 22:43
timberlinemd
Just call me: Steve #66
 
Arizona
United States of America
Gerald, for the X & Y you are correct. For the Z rack they are tapped. Must they be blind?
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  #11  
Old Sat 15 May 2010, 22:53
Gerald D
Just call me: Gerald (retired)
 
Cape Town
South Africa
Oops, forgot the Z.

You can drill through and tap through, no problem.

A standard "bottom" tap, the third one in a set of three, is the normal tap for a blind hole and it cuts a full thread until about 5 thread pitches from the bottom.
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  #12  
Old Sun 16 May 2010, 09:27
timberlinemd
Just call me: Steve #66
 
Arizona
United States of America
Thanks Gerald. Most of the tap sets sold around here only come with one tap. I'm sure that a true machinery supply would carry the full set. The taps that go straight thru are easy to fine even at home centers. My solution was to take another tap that was designed to be used as a straight thru tap, cut off the tip and grind it down until it had a flat bottom. It worked really well!
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  #13  
Old Sun 16 May 2010, 10:10
Gerald D
Just call me: Gerald (retired)
 
Cape Town
South Africa
I must admit that the blind hole is not so friendly for the non-metric guys with 1/2" racks and 1/4" screws. (small rack, biggish screw). For us metric guys, it is a 15mm rack with a 6mm screw.....a bit easier.

I think I spoke too quickly when a said to drill right through. You will loose half of a tooth when you do this, and I don't think that is okay for a rack that is only 1/2" wide. In other words, you end up with a 1/4" wide tooth [6.35mm]. The metric guys, on drilling through, will still have 9mm tooth width.
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  #14  
Old Mon 17 May 2010, 16:57
chopper
Just call me: chopper
 
Big Lake Minnesota
United States of America
why not just weld them on,
you will not need to worry if they will let go, this is what I did...
//chopper
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  #15  
Old Mon 17 May 2010, 20:24
Gerald D
Just call me: Gerald (retired)
 
Cape Town
South Africa
We have replaced a worn out Z-rack already, because it does a lot of movement in a short distance. (Actually, we had already turned it end-for-end first). Don't like the idea of welding, or taping, it on. However, our pinion gears are hardened and this shortens the rack life.
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  #16  
Old Mon 17 May 2010, 21:37
bradm
Just call me: Brad #10
 
Somerville(MA)
United States of America
Hmm. Does it matter how often the through drilled and tapped portion of the rack is actually used, and/or if it's ever used under cutting load as opposed to just for clearance during rapids?
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  #17  
Old Tue 18 May 2010, 00:26
Gerald D
Just call me: Gerald (retired)
 
Cape Town
South Africa
Depending on a particular user's setup (router bracket, cutter length, table top thickness, etc), the rack is typically loaded in the vicinity of the upper screw. Not a good idea to have a weak tooth there.
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