[Exile]

Hi Everyone,

I new here so first I'd like to say hi :wave:

I'm looking for a steel or aluminium dovetail that would be suitable for a lathe bed. The lathe I'm making is a fairly specialised one and I need to build it on the cheap. Below are the kind of dimensions I'm looking for.

Length: 1700mm
Width:75 mm
Height: 15-20 mm
Angle: 55 degrees (45 or 60 would also be fine)

I know I could mill this out of some flat bar but my Bridgeport only has 600mm travel and I cant trust that it will produce anything accurate over a 1700mm length.

I've had 2 quotes for professional machine shops to mill these and they are both coming in way, way, WAY over what I can afford.

If anyone can point me in the right direction that would be great. Alternatively, if there is a machine shop out there who would like to trade me a dovetail for some CAD time that is also a possibility. I'm fluent in Solidworks 2011 and have a solid background in products for injection moulding over the last 8 years full time. Also competent in FEA and Photo-realistic rendering.

Thanks in advance.

[MrWild]

It might be cheaper to do box ways, or even supported linear ways.