Manny,

Sean will respond. Let me know when you are coming and I will plan on being there also if I am not already there. If it is this next week, I will be there a lot working on my table.

cool let me see how my weeck looks like and ill let you know it showl be a fund drive

Steel arrived and steel was cut. Used Sean's Delta 14" chop cutter. Worked great. Cut all the table channel cross bearers and parts for the side of the table.

Yeepie,

Laser parts to arrive on Wed.

Progress continues.

All the cross bearers are drilled and ready for taping and paint.

The X axis beams have been cut to size and await drilling.

The laser parts have been upacked and the 4 items have been counter sinked.

VWheels arrived today along with some other parts.

Pictures Please. :)

Nils sounds like a happy man! :)

Gerald,

Nils is having fun and Sean is also. Laser parts from Joe.

Nah, Sean only posed for the picture - his wife would kill him if he was really working steel in a white shirt. :D

...and I had no idea Nils took this picture. See how messy the warehouse is, we're in the middle of moving to a bigger facility. The only thing left at this location is finance, me and a Mechmate.

Table starting to come together. I have also received the ground rails and they are sweet. Picture of rails tomorrow.

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

Looking good!

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.

Fresh rack out of the packing tube.

Nils,
What did the rail end up costing you for the whole machine? Are you doing the Z slide as well, like Ed did? Seems like you are steaming along nicely! :)

Things are moving along at a nice clip and Yes, I am doing all X, Y and Z with the V-Rails. If you are going to do it, might as well do them all.

I sent you a PM with the price.

Update....

Took the Gantry tube to have them gaged cut so they would be the same length. Will lay the holes out and drill and tape them next.

I have Z Slide Plate and the Slide Tube. They have been machined and taped. I also drilled and taped the rails.

I have included a test assembly of the Z.

Enjoy.

Great Stuff, you must be on a natural high with this project coming along ! :D:)
Keep those nice pics coming, it is motivating.
Robert ;)

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!