I have an awful way of "dressing" a grind wheel and I am hesitant to mention it because it just seems so unsafe and unheard of. I run a similar grinder against it - 2 disks spinning against each other. Not recommending it at all - the noise, dust, vibration doesn't look healthy.

Interesting. That is why the South Africans are such good inventors. We will try anything to descover something new. Even bend or break a few rules in the proses!:D

jules vern here I come!

Ja Sean. Africa is not for sisies!:D

That looks great Johan. And it's leaving a mirror finish on the rail. Beautiful.

Thanks Doug. I must finish the last rail tommorow.

Glazing problem occured to me after about 600mm of grinding. I thought it might be because of the quality of the grinding disks that I use. I came around with this solution which works fine for me: sanding disks, grit 36 backed by a solid new grinding disk (disk rubber backings were quite errative and dangerous). Now I can bevel both sides of a rail with one sanding disk per about 1500-2000 mm of rail before it glazes or wears off. The surface quality is acceptable. I also tried to improve the surface finish with 80 grit sanding disk, the surface finish was remarkable, but needs extra work which I believe is redundant. The noise level is much less than grinding disks. Metal removal is good. I set for approximatey 0.5 to 1 mm per pass with my 850W Chinese grinder. The less the feed, the more the disks last.

That looks great Nader. I used a whetstone to polish mine a little after I finished grinding.

wow - Nader - where is your build thread???

That's good idea Nader. I will remember that if I have to build another BBB.:D

Thanks for the kind words. To tell you the truth, due to my limitations I had to redesign numerous parts so these machines are actually a mutant between MechMate, ShopBot and my own design, needless to say that I owe its design to Gerald's generous sharing of his ideas, and the concepts and discussions over here from you all.
Although I have compiled a day to day log of my activities with step by step pictures while building these machines, I thought it would be rude and inappropriate to introduce a new design in MechMate forum, which might bring distraction or confusion from Gerald's original idea and efforts, to those who are building or intend to build the MechMate.

Nader,
Now you really have to show us your build, that's too intriguing to let it go. Even if it's in a different forum somewhere you should post a link, or I bet Gerald would be OK with you showing a "Mutant" machine, maybe if you call it a "Hybrid" it would be more enticing.

This new skate - was it decided this was a better design? I am getting the Laser Parts kit together and this new file is not part of the Profiles DXF list. That list still has the standard skate.

Mike,
As far as I know this new skate design is not part of the official mechmate cut list release. Gerald may decide to include it at a later time, but I am guessing. This was just some of the guys modifying what was available to their liking. :)

I didn't think there was an obvious enough improvement to warrant a special drawing release. I will probably change the drawings one day, but more for the reason of incorporating a disc guard. Before I change the drawing, I will warn the guys holding stocks of lazered kits.

Are the cut and stamped parts of this skate available for purchase from someone?

sent you a PM

From post #156 of JR's new design. The DXF seems to be in inches. So if you're going to have it laser cut this may need to be scalled to mm.
Otherwise, it's looking great.

Makita Grind Skate Modification
 

The Makita grinders seem to have a slightly different hole pattern. For some reason the bolt are not located at 45 degrees. I've measured up a Makita 9556 and come up with the drawing below. On my skate I welded up the original slots, re drilled and cut back some of the skate. (Original in orange)
If anyone else has a Makita Grinder, can you check if it fits the different models.

Does anyone have updated plans I can have to make the best version of the skate so far

Sent you a PM

Hello everyone, I'm looking for one of the new skate assembles. Would someone have one they may want to sell. Please let me know.

Thanks
Mike

thanks for idea
anajanxxx

Is anyone selling pre-cut/bent plates for these?

Yes - I do.

http://www.cvsupply.com/servlet/the-MechMate/Categories

Hello Mike,

I just recieved my skate kit (THANK YOU!

Can you tell me which grinder the holes are setup for? Is it the Bosch 1375A?

I have to buy a grinder for this anyway... so I figure I might as well buy the grinder you designed the skate for.

Thank you :)

Charles

Not sure about the bosch, but I have a dewalt that fit the hole pattern. Not sure of the model number but could get it for you tonight if need be. I just brought my plate to the store and checked it before I bought it. :)

Heath,

That would be a big help! Much appreciated!!

I have to modify the mounting holes to fit my Skill. What I did was enlarge the slots with a grinder fitted with the 1mm cutting disc.

I think I found a Ryobi grinder at HD last night that is a drop in fit.

I have to buy some longer mounting screws... but other tahn that it looks "all go"

If it fits without modification I will post it tonight. The only downside is that it is a 4.5amp grinder and for this kind of work I would really rather see a 7 amp grinder doing the work.

A BIG THANK YOU to everyone whose ideas and work made this skate possible and to Mike who took the timre to produce it. Trying to design and build one of these skates would have been more trouble that it was worth for a single project. The skate turns this into a cool learning exercise!

The Ryobi at HD will fit. You will need to purchase longer metric fasteners and little nylon spacers to make it work. The head on the Ryobi is slightly tapered and the 4 spacers make it seat properly to the skate.

The spacers need to be about 3/16 or 1/4 long plus about a 3/4"-1" long fasteners, I can't remember the actual length.

Darn, too late. My grinder was the Dewalt DW818 if it helps anyone else out. :)

Does one of the HF grinders work? Has anyone used them? I have the makita stated above and didn't want to modify the skate unless I have to, easier to get a cheapo HF while I'm there.

Take your plate with you. Thats what I did when I bought the dewalt. :)

I thought about that after I posted, thanks Heath:o

Tom, IIRC one of the HF grinders did work, but it was underpowered for the job. After I burned it up, I switched to a Milwaukee (for more than twice the price) that not only finished the job, but is still going strong to this day. If I had to do it again, I wouldn't bother with the HF; the performance of the grinder maps directly to how much time you have to spend.

The old pay once for quality tools, or keep paying with cheap ones. :)

I have a Makita I've been using for years, it has enough power to work. The skate will take a little modification but no big deal.

Ok, have the bent parts for the grinding fixture but can't find a BOM for it.
What size adjusters, bolts, and nuts are needed?
The bom.xls @ http://www.dmoore.com/mechmate/bom.xls is gone...