[GME]

Hi, as long as it is possible to get the rails parallel it should be pretty easy.

1. Remove the rails
2. Measure the distance from each thread to the outer edge and draw a sketch in cad.
3. Measure the angle of the threads line to the frame
4. take the CAD sketch an create two rails and set the angle to the frame like measured
5. figure out the needed distance between the rails to mount them parallel

With a dial cauge you can align one rail to the frame edge. Now take a large tube and mount it on the linear block with the dial cauge at the other end and drive along the second rail. You can use a clamp to create a little force on the rails side. Start at one end and work along the screws until it is parallel.

Hello Millhouse, and thank you for your input. Are you overlooking something? What you describe may work with an rail that hadn't been drilled and threaded, but how would you accommodate this situation, where the rails are already mounted and the the holes in the rails aren't oversized enough to allow for the amount of adjustment that's needed. What you describe, and what I need, is just going to be a small fractional (in the several thousands) move. So, once you realign the rails that fraction, you would necessarily have overlapping holes, which won't work. As I've mentioned in prior posts, I believe the holes would need to be weld filled, ground off, and new holes reestablished. Also, I don't trust the frame rail edges to be consistent enough to use as a reference surface. Using a taught piano wire seems to hold promise, I think. Very old school, but I don't have the equipment to employ the latest techniques.

As far as aligning the rails for parallel, I believe you are describing a technique where the first rail installed is called the master rail, and the other rail is set to parallel off of it. I seem to recall that this isn't the preferred method, but maybe a common one. As non-professional DIY'er, it may be the only one available to me. I'm stilling looking for info on using piano wire, and there may be information about how to use it to set rails parallel.

Am I misreading you, or was your first sentence intended to mean, "as long as it is possible to get the rails 'in the same plane' . . . ."? IMHO, nothing about trying to rehab this beast is going to be "pretty easy." I agree that there are techniques to get things the way they should be, but some, like milling and/or grinding, are almost certainly be budget busters. Others would benefit from specialized equipment I don't have. (I have the basics, dial gauges, precision squares and straight edges, but that's about it). Since I already had the electronics and motors, I budgeted for the frame and stand only. I did not anticipate having to make, and pay for, major modifications to get the frame to within the specs Fineline advertises for the Saturn 2. Fineline advertised, and continues to advertise:

"We take quality seriously, which is why every frame is:

• Built with an accuracy of 0.1mm."

.01mm is .003937" So far, it appears that pretty much nothing is actually built to that specification.
Edit: I meant 0.1mm is .003937". I intended to type the 0 before the decimal point, but my fingers got in the way. GME
Thank you, again. If I've missed something, or misinterpreted you comments, please be sure to let me know.

Gary