Heath,

You are looking at the inside which means you are looking at Rail. Look at the second picture in post 132. What most likely through you off is that I painted the exposed part of the rail that is not in contact with the V Wheel. Every time I turned around it was rusting so I painted it. I liked the contrast of the unpainted rail but the painted rail also looks nice. Hope that explains!

Thanks for all the nice comments.

Nils,
Sorry, you are right. :) I knew it had to be me. No more reading after midnight. :)

I have had a couple people ask me about my T3 Rail order.

For my machine, I ordered the following.

All T3 Track with no holes.

4 each 6'
2 each 4'
2 each 3'
2 each 2'

I decided to go with no holes because of the price of them cutting the holes, I decided I could drill the rails.

The maximum length was decided by the cost of shipping. 6' is the maximum lenght UPS will handle. Trucking cost are very high so I went for UPS.

I purchased them from Superior Bearing. The same place the V Wheels and Bushings come from.

Hope that helps those considering pre ground rails.

Nils,
Rick at superior bearing had mentioned to me that ups was ok up to 8 feet? He said that once you went to 8 foot 1 inch then the shipping went to freight and over doubled. I am now confused since I was going to place my order for rails soon. :confused: Or is 6 feet still cheaper than 8 foot lengths?

Also what size table did you end up going with?

Heath,

Either I don't remember right or I heard wrong. Either way what I ordered has worked out.

The table is X 12' long Y 7' long. So the size rails I bought worked well.

I think the price is the same no matter what size lengths you get. It goes by the foot.

Dankie Nils. :)
That is going to be one big Mechmate! :eek: With the inspiration from your build, I have decided to go with the bolt on rails myself. Order is being made right now!

Sean, you will have to build a bigger one. :)

Heath like the way you say thanks!:D

Hennie,
Still trying to figure out a lot of the interesting language here on the forum. I have figured out some. :) Have to keep practicing for the Mechmate convention. :eek:

Mechmate Convention ...when where? ;) sounds like a plan

".oer.e" goeie Plan!:)

sign me up :D

Gerald,

I promised some pictures of the stop. These are for the gantry. You see I laid the 1/2 x 1 x 2 aluminum on its side. The Y car does clear them.

As you can see progress continues.

Today, I learned I made an error when I made the slide plate. I cut it according to the plans which calls for 4" wide. I did not consider the impact that adding the preground rails would have on the remaining space for installation of the VWheels and the spider. I could not make adjustments once I installed the Z slide.

I have purchased another slide plate 3.5" wide. More drilling and taping but a better plan.

Putting the pieces together. Y-Car, Z Slide, Motor, Gas Spring even tested the Milwaukee router. From this test, I decided to move the top bracket for the gas spring down so that the Z Slide is higher at rest.

Sean is closing this shop and moving every thing to his new shop. My machine will be moved to my garage. The move will be interesting.

Mechanically every thing is completed. I will add all the motors, proximity switches and wiring when the machine has been moved.

I will miss the space that I have had to work on my machine. Sean has been very generous with his shop space and time. I am grateful.

Looks good! (Why is that other machine at the back so clean?)

clean? Your not looking close enough
 

Gerald,
For once, I actually vacuumed up the mess on top and around the table when I left for the weekend. I can't wait to post the pic's of this mornings mess. It is some interesting CNC cutting to say the least.

*that's what we call a teaser!* :D

....more to follow!

*subscribe thread for audio alert of new picture post*

...check my thread for some photo's :)

Moving Day. With Sean closing this shop, I have to move my machine to my garage. Here are some photos of the preparations and break down.

Good luck on the move for both of you guys !

Robert

Thanks! I think the move will go smoothly. It will be a tight fit in my garage but it will work. More pictures later.

...Move went fine, only one bruised toe! Mine!

Sean,

Thank you so much for moving the machine from your shop and having two of your people assist in the move.

Every one,

The move did go very smoothly. The rails fit nicely on the trailer laying down and we placed the cross bearers with the MDF attached on top of them with a couple pieces of foam in between. We placed the gantry in the back of my truck.

When we got to my garage, putting the unit back together went very smoothly also. It helped to have 4 people holding and bolting every thing together. It also helped that the MDF was attached to the cross bearers. Made the process easier.

There is more room in the garage than I thought. Pictures Thursday.

I have to tighten every thing down and insure that the machine is square again. Place the gantry back on the rails and start wiring.

Sean, I hope you toe is not too bruised.

Nils,

Can't wait to see the first cuts. :)

...toe's fine :)

Now, I have to get my machine ready to move next week. I'm glad my shop had a machine to learn on! :D

Greg,

I am eager to see the first cut also.

Sean,

Good to hear that your toe is good. Happy that the student could help the teacher.

Nils had a blue face and now he has a blue toe. You have covered your extremities . . . guard those bits in the middle now!

Who can give me a new title for Nils' thread? :)

Gerald,

Sorry but I did not have the bruised toe. Sean did! Save the new thread for later when I start cutting stuff.

I read those posts too quickly at the airport, and I tend to avoid inspecting other people's toes too closely - sorry for the mix-up. :)