If you will search the forum, I seem to recall someone in the UK building a Mechmate and I also recall him talking about buying a rack and pinion.

Good luck with your build.

Hi All,

First off I must thank Gerald for the great plans, wonderful Forum and all the help he gives. This is a great project and no one could ask for better "Technical" support, not even for a purchased product.

I have been lurking the forums for a long time and its time to try to get the materials together to start building. I am trying to get together the hard to find items first so that I don't get stuck later on.
My build will be reasonable large and I will require a total of 10 meters of rack. I have got a few quotes and the best one so far is AU$160 per 2 meter length of metric rack and pinions are AU$20 each. I am fairly certain from what I have been reading here that this is a little expensive.
So now to the question, is there anyone out there that is willing to get the rack and pinions sent to them and then repackage them and send them to me in Australia?
I was thinking that they would probably need to be placed into a PVC tube with endcaps and some paper or such stuffed in there to protect them al I would hate them to get here and find them damaged. Then sent regular post to try and keep the costs down a bit.
Along with the rail I would also like to get 4 of the 24 tooth pinions (metric).

If there is anyone interested in helping out please let me know or if you feel that the $900 for the rack and pinions is OK let me know and I will decide from there.

Thanks,

Jayson.

Stuff to Oz
 

Hello Jason

Goodluck on your quest, I haven't build a MM but it looks the bees knees, the forum members are helpful and a great resource.

I have used a Elwood Beauchamp ( [email protected] ) to bring stuff in for me from the States, he basically charges USPS costs plus US$15.00 to pack, he will combine shipments from various suppliers into one box to get the best rate, the downside is the length of the shipment, for Airmail it is 1167mm.

I have bought in LCL loads ( Less than Container Loads ) by sea and the rates to get them here are very reasonable, the KILLER is the port and Gov' charges, all I did was to open my wallet and give it to them, for what they did and how long it took it was just theft!!.

You could have two options ( 3rd if buy local - FYI, I recently bought some toothed belts from Econobelts in the States but mis ordered one, the correct one was US$26.00, add US$25.00 to get it here and the cost is about AU$80.00, I rang Pies in Vic today for a price, they will make one for me ( it's a long belt ) for AU$168.00, pricey but OK, then the saleman telod me they will only do specials in 2 or more, so it becomes $336.00 + $15.00 to get it her, roughly the same lead time ) 1st is try a courier and get a quote, will be high but might still be cheaper, or two, try and find an importer who will bring it in for you.

Good luck with your build.

Ed

Thanks for the advice Ed.

Hopefully I will get something sorted out. This looks like a great machine and it would be a pitty to not be able to build it but without racks it won't work too well. I have thought of using toothed belt and might have to but I would like to build it as close to designed as possible if I could.

Regards,

Jayson.

Ed and Jayson, see this post.

Ed & Jason, I may have some news for you . . . .

The racks we use here Cape Town are actually imported from Italy. I asked the Italian company if they have a stockist of our typical size/spec in Australia. They suggested http://www.mecco.com.au/

Thanks Gerald,

I will get in contact with them tomorrow and see what they say.

Regards,

Jayson.

Thanks for the contact Gerald.

Unfortunately they also quote AU$120 per meter. So looks like I will have to rethink my plans.

I have not received a reply from Standard steel so it looks line only Rich Australians will be building Mechmates :)

Thanks for the help.

Jayson.

Its me again

Just got a Quote from TEA transmissions here in the land of lots of cash :rolleyes: and they have quoted the Mod 1 racks at AU$114.20 per 2 meter length, and Pinions at AU$26.29 each. I am thinking this may have to do as I have ran out of options, although I could try machining my own rack on my converted mill :eek:

Maybe not.

This slight increase in project cost will mean a delay before I get going as I need to collect some more aluminium cans and hope the price of aluminium scrap rises...

I will keep you up to date with my proceedings.

Regards,

Jayson





Boss... Boss... How about a pay rise???...

I think the solution is staring you in the face . . . . . become a rack importer/distributor and get rich quick! :)

Would be very interested to hear what the Italians will quote you to send 10 lengths of 2m rack. If you were trying Std Steel, you might as well try [email protected] as well.

Thanks Gerald,

I have sent an email to the Italians. Hopefully they will understand my email and realize what a terrible ordeal it is to get rack in Australia and reply. :)


Just out of curiosity, how many Mechmates have been built in Australia that you know of?

Maybe I should import a container load of rack and flood the market...

Jayson.

Not even one MM in Australia comes to mind now - maybe everyone is waiting for you to bring down the prices of the imported components? :)

David,

I am still studying all the MM drawings and researching where to get all those hard to find items that are not available here. One of those are the racks and pinions and water-cooled spindle.

Can you tell me how much it costs you for the rack and pinion as well as the spindle? Also, can you email me the name and address of the company who did the rack and pinion for you?

Thanks,
WT

Hello Viperia. About racks. I have same problem currently. Have you got the racks? Where from?
I send request to Chiaravalli, they redirected me to ukrainian dealer and that was twice more than usual 25-30euro (per 2m). Now looking somewhere else. Thou Chiaravalli has quite reasonable prices in Czeck Republic - 30910200-1-1879 OZ.HŘEBEN CHT M 1 Q15 MM 2000 - 593,00 ks (http://chiaravalli.inshop.cz/inshop/ , search "HŘEBEN")
You have in Sweden this supplier as well - http://www.mekanex.se/. (sells BEAs racks.)

I'm having talks with Deitech from Hong Kong in having them supplying us racks and pinions from China. Will update soon.

Those in the asia pacific hold on for a while ya.

Nik, Dietec can also supply timing pulleys - belts -steppers drivers, steppers, spindles -

basically you can put together the whole electronics together using them - rack and pinion is added advantage - i did not know they dealt with that too :)

basically I like the interaction and support and response they gave to my emails. thats why I recomend them - I have test their spindle yet though.

RGDS
IRfan

hi Irfan,
when i was shopping for the electronics i was shying away from them because their website doesn't list price and the catalogs look "unfinished", plus it doesn't work with firefox.
Now i know that i just have to ask a lot.
having a spindle must be great. lucky you!

http://www.stappenmotor.nl/Steppermotor/Index_Eng.html

This is their european website - they have most of it here -

RGDS
Irfan

Some prices in europe:

* Tea-hamburg.de
http://www.tea-hamburg.de/

They also sell the V-wheels and bushes
(Fuhrungsrader / Exzentrische Adapter-Buche / Fuhrungsschienen)
They sent me their entire catalog without that I asked it .
Weighs approximately 3.5 kg . Nice !!

http://www.tea-hamburg.de/uploads/tx...en_2008_01.pdf
2m Rack - module 1-10 2000 ST
2m Zahnstange 15x15x1998, Stahl C40/C45
Price 43,10 Euro excluding VAT
Shipping cost to Belgium = 45euro

* Chiaravallie.fr -> Paris
After 2 weeks waiting still no price received.

*Local Businesses:

* Act in Time:
Great website with prices excluding VAT
http://www.actintime.be/nl/producten...nderdelen.html
Racks : http://www.maedler.de/de/Catalog/P/1...8/907/932.aspx
Pinion : http://www.maedler.de/de/Catalog/P/1...1079/1082.aspx

This Friday I got a price of:

2m rack - c 43 - => price = 32.08 euros
4st pinion - c 45 - z = 24 => 1.84 euro / piece
4st pinion - c 45 - z = 36 => 2.88 euro / piece
I do not know if these prices include VAT.
I think I will order here .

Hi Gerald, I was wondering if you could help me choose the spurgear for the modul 1, 2 meter long rack. I seem to have some difficulties doing it. I know which rack but cant figure out the size for the wheel. As far as the number of teeth is concerned I hope 35 is the correct choice. Correct me if I am wrong. I am gonna use PK296AE-SG7.2 geared OM. I chose to use the same supplier. They have a distributor in Poland.

Hi Martin, 35 teeth metric module 1 is a good choice. If the pinions are quite cheap, I suggest you get some 25 teeth pinions as well. Then you can choose according to the materials you cut, speeds you need and quality of cutting surface.

howdee from Perth!
 

Im thinking of building this great machine....BUT! the racks are putting this game out of reach..so i did what most boers do....MAAK A PLAN! but will my plan actuallwork ...please help out here guys.....ive found a rack and pinion supplier GATE AUTOMATION SYSTEMS....

right the rack have half inch pitch and the pionions have 17 teeth

will this do?

thanx.....the steppers will be the Nema 23 with Torque 1.7n.m 245 oz.In.

thanx ..oh yes the table size will hold a 125cmx 76cm sheet of stock

Half inch pitch teeth will definitely not work. Nema 23's are also dodgy (even with 3-4mm pitch rack).

Hi Van,

I did lots of searching for rack in Australia and the only option for the correct rack I could find was TEA. Let me know a total length of rack required and a rough price on what you have been quoted. The rack seems to be comming down in price since I got it acording to some other messages I have received.

Jayson.

Hey Van,

I've ordered mine from Linear Bearings here in Adelaide (They have offices in most capital cities). I've bought a bit off them before and they gave me a deal i couldn't say no to. $42/m plus $14.40 per pinion (25T) not inclusing GST, so add 10%. So i ordered 3x 2m lengths and 4 pinions which should be sufficient for me.

Howdee Gerald
 

please help me understand why half inch wont work...these guys are the top the industry with this system and they use 16 mm pitch ..check it out so i called the guy in Australia...$450.00 for a HALF METRE LENGTH yes mate 450..weel i said my good bye an put the phone down really dispointed but never the less here are the specs for your knowledge...not that you need more you clever bugger!
thanx for the great site and product i will be building your machine but in Aliminium and much smaller for cutting out model aircraft parts and some guitar bodys and inlay work...
Thanx Boet!

the nexen in action

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkFzw...rom=PL&index=4

and the pdf files of the actuall product...

Cheers Matey!
 

Thats great news on the rack..there is a agent here in PERTH YEEHAAAA!

of to see the guys on monday!

big THANX!

Look at the diameter of the driving pinion when you use 1/2" pitch . . . . where will you find the torque, or space to turn that 3" diameter monster?

I was just quoted NOK 1200(about US$200) for the racks in 2 meter length, NOK100(about $15) for the pinions in a local store here in Norway. Anyone found a good source for the racks and pinions with reasonable shipping in Europe?

http://www.mekanex.se/no/

I was quoted by finnish branch last year -

5 pcs of rack mod 1 , 15x15x2000 price ea net EUR 30:- , taxes excluded

2 pcs spur gear with hub , mod 1 , z=24 , Eur net each 8:- taxes excluded

I found Chiaravalli online store but did not contact.

And here got it for some 26 euro/2m

I think they try to rip me off since I'm in Norway, they want ~€115 for the same racks (+ shipping and taxes). I'll try the other one you suggested.

I got a quote in Italy Rome: 16 € x meter (module 1 15x15)

Contact details
 

Can you supply contact details in order for me to locate any brach offices in East London or PE

From another post:

Hi I´m not sure how i will drive my machine or even what form it will take, but i found these suppliers that I´d like to share

The Netherlands

I found cheap suppliers one for screws and spindels and another for racks, now all i need is a good supplier of cheap steppers and drivers
http://www.bwklaver.nl/
for the racks not hardened

mod 1 eur 27.65m
mod 2 eur 38.05m
mod 3 eur 74.15m

excl VAT 19%

And http://www.mafaha.nl/

12.50 m for a 20mm spindel

Wouter

rack and pinion question
 

Hi Everybody,
I have finished the mechanical built, the only thing missing are the racks and pinions. Apart from Grainger I have not found a local supplier (I am in Puebla, Mexico). I would like to know if somebody could give me an opinion on the following specs. I have everything standard (standard motor with gear box 1:7.2).

Spur Gear
20 Pitch, Pitch Dia 1.600 In, Face Width 0.375 In, Number of Teeth 32, Bore Dia 0.375 In, Outside Dia 1.700 In, Overall Length 0.875 In, Hub Dia 1.31 In, Hub Projection 0.50 In, Pressure Angle 14 1/2 Deg, Keyway None, Setscrew Not Included, Steel Material

Steel Rack
Pitch 20, Teeth per Inch 6.36, Nominal Length 6 Feet, Face Width 0.375 Inch, Overall Thickness 0.375 Inch, Pitch Line to Back 0.325 Inch, 14 1/2 Degrees Pressure Angle

Thank you,
Tim

Dear Gerald

Can i use this gear?
http://www.khkgears.co.jp/khkweb/sea...&sic=1&lang=en

Asif, I have retired from the MechMate project. I will mostly avoid direct questions. Sorry, but I cannot spend the time to check everybody's catalogues.

Spanish Rack and pinion Supplier:

Para los que deseen adquirir en España Rack y piñones:

Empresa: Chiaravalli.
Lugar: Barcelona
Telefono: 93 844 00 99
Cremallera Módulo1 15x15, de hasta 3 metros de largo
Material: Acero F-114
Piñones Módulo1 Z:24 24 dientes.

La misma empresa se encarga de mecanizar los piñones al tamaño deseado.
Si quieren ver fotos del producto, las añadiré a mi hilo, una vez las tenga en el taller.

Try misumi jp (online store w/local dealer), they sell:
a. Rack and pinion
b. Timing pulley and belt
c. Alu-profile, etc
:D