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.

...Nils is a good student. He also is learning patience. I think he's been camped out in front of the drill press ALL WEEK! :)

Nils has a good teacher.

Gerald,

Here are some pictures.... But the rails are tight against the aluminum.

If you want additional pictures or a different view, let me know. The close ups I took are a bit fuzzie, I will retake.

Thanks for the pics. So, do the rails fit snugly into the corner of the alu?

Gerald,

Yes they fit tight. I will try and get you a close up of the end corner view on Saturday.

Nils,
The pictures look great. It looks like you needed two pieces of rail. What was the max length of rail you can get and what length of table are you using. The transition from one to the next looks really good. I am really eager to see what you think of the whole bolt on rail method once your machine is up and cutting. (As are a lot of others too I think)

The rail sections are 6' long, thus we used 2 sections.
We have offset them slightly to each other so no 2 rollers can ever occupy a joint line at the same time.
This was easier on the Y-axis - we were able to use a 3' and 4' and offset the joint lines as well.
I was concerned that I might have to root pass weld the vee-rail for alignment, but the alum angle did a fine job. It fits VERY nicely on the inside of the extrusion.
This solution works very well - so far. The proof will be in the finished machine. But I will admit, those superior bearing rails sure are nice :)

Heath,

It took me about 3-4 days to tap and drill holes in the rails and the aluminum. If I would have been more careful in my transfer and hole drilling of the aluminum, it may have taken a day less. The one thing that I didn't have to deal with is the grinding dust.

I hope that when I finish that we will be able to compare the performance of the two machines since they are with in 10' of each other.

It is great having Sean and his machine to give me guidance.

This week I finally got my 20 rails (total length 60meters [200 ft]) done for 5 MM's. I will be the first to agree that those V-Strip rails on alu look VERY attractive. It might be a slow process, but it is controllable and predictable. The cutting and grinding of angle iron is economical, but hot rolled iron doesn't give you a nice accurate line to work from.

Gerald,

Here are a couple close ups.

Nils,
Great pictures. I am anxiously awaiting the report on the new rails once you start cutting. :)

Nils,

Thanks for the great reporting and pictures.

I'm starting (ordered the laser cut parts) on number 2. My rails will follow your progress.

Thanks for the pics Nils. Looks like the V-Rail has nicely rounded edges at the bottom and that it should fit snugly to most extruded alu angles.

Any particular reason you wanted to tap the rails and not use nuts?

Gerald,

I don't remember the thinking behind taping the rails.

Sean, welded the Y-Car and today I painted it and started to paint the table. I have also primed and painted the aluminum - lets hope it stays painted.

Things are looking MM Blue!!!

Gosh my shop is dirty :eek:
This is now our storage facility, the business has moved to a much bigger plant a few miles away. For now, this will be the CNC shop until I can prep a nice room for (2) machines at the new facility.

Orlando might get hit by the first Hurricane (Fay) to come up the state of FL. It currently is going to go to the West or the East or Orlando, the weather guys don't know. The National Weather Radar shows that the eye is just reaching the Keys. Orlando is suppose to see the storm late Tuesday but it could slow down due to it going over land.

Sean is battening up an install he has going on.

Putting my positive thought toward you guys and wishing you all the best through this inevitable weather strike.

...thanks for the support. This one looks like it will be just a good gully washer.

Storm update

Currently, the storm and it looks like it will be more of a tropical storm than a hurricane is moving very slowly. It hit the keys around 5PM and has only come back over land at Marco Island which is South of Ft Myers (West coast of FL). For most of the state it will bring lots of ran and some strong winds. Most of the damage will be caused by any tornados spawned by the storm.

I am currently getting no rain.

Nils, it always intrigues us when we see TV coverage of your storm damage, why you guys don't build with brick & mortar? Out here, where hurricanes are almost unheard of, most houses are brick & mortar.

Gerald,

Most new construction is done with concrete block on the first floor and wood on the second floor. But many older homes were built with wood. Today new home construction has changed since we have had so much damage from hurricanes. From the foundation to the roof, it is all tied together with straps. Windows and doors must be able to with stand 140 mph winds, that includes garage doors. The building codes have changed drastically. Shingles have more nails and they are longer nails. But there are many homes that were built with the old codes and so there is lots of damage.

Naturally, it helps if you don't build close to the edge of the water. That has not changed. Everyone still wants to live right next to the water and the local city government still allow it.

A major problem we have here is getting and keeping your home owners insurance. Many insurance companies are not insuring policies close to the coast and the price is very high. After the last storm, I had to find new insurance though I did not have any claims. The price I was quoted was in some cases almost double and they wanted proof of upgraded electrical, air conditioning including new duct work and other changes. The state had to start providing home owners insurance and they are covering a substantial number of people in the state. Many companies have pulled out of the state or they only provide coverage for homes in the middle of the state.

I thought that everyone watching my build with preground rails would enjoy this photo.

Aluminum painted MM with the rails attached. I think they look pretty sharp!!!

If it wasn't so darn expensive to transport those V-rails, I would use them here. Nice!

Where is your proxy target hole, or do you think that a proxy and alu are not compatible? (sensing distance typically reduces by 66%, but they usually still sense). And your plans for stop-blocks? (Screwed through from the back, or welded?)

Gerald,

Sean chief engineer on sensor and stop block. I am sure he will answer.

Actually he is the chief engineer. I am learning and doing!!! I am a good order follower. I put my 2 cents in and ask questions to understand.

Gerald and others,
The stop blocks will be bolted from underneath the rail into a tapped block blindly.
The proximity holes are going to be as designed with the hole if the sensing works well. Option 2 will be used if the aluminum-to-proximity sensing is not up to par and we will use adhesive metal tape on the aluminum rail and only be placed in the "active" area so the sensor respond like a "classic" mechmate. This way, the sensor logic will stay the same. Either option will work very well.
Thanks for asking.
Sean

If it is not too late, I would suggest you get the "extended range" proximity switches like this one:
http://www.factorymation.com/s.nl/it...category=14129

Difference is that the metal jacket does not go all the way to the nose - it doubles the sense distance. Better for alu sensing. However, you have such a consistent ride height over that alu extrusion, that you could set a proxy down within 0.5mm to sense the alu and still be okay.

Gerald,

Thanks for the suggestion but I bought early and got the SI12-C2 NPN NO H.

Have you connected that proxy across your car battery and held it near alu to see when the LED lights up? :)

...good homework for Nils. Hey Nils, Have you connected that proxy across your car battery and held it near alu to see when the LED lights up? :)
THIS IS FUN!