[millman52]

I managed to get the rack gearing mounted to 1/4" thick strap. I am mounting the gear in this manner so in the event of the gear getting damaged I can simply purchase a new strip of gear, drill it & mount it. I also wanted the rack set out from the table frame to allow the pinion full surface width without fear of any end play causing the end of the pinion to contact the frame rail.

I used hot roll strap for 1 side & cold rolled for the second. I highly recomend the use of cold rolled. It was much easier to get the gear accurately placed, for obvious reasons, the CRS is much more uniform. It wasn't worth the little bit of savings to struggle with the HRS.

[DeviousMW]

What is the size of your main frame pieces? They look like at least 2"x8"x.25

DeviousMW

[millman52]

2" X 6" X 3/16"

[millman52]

Below are some pictures of the rack gear mounted to the "X" rail(s) I have 8" hole spacing on the strap the rack gear is mounted to. I tapped the holes in the main rails on 4" spacing to allow me to move the rack gear in 4"increments for final positioning. The 4th. picture is showing some spots where I have heated the bottom of one of the rails to straighten it. It was necessary because of welding the parts on top to clamp in the replacable round CRS that I am using for one of my linear rails.

[millman52]

Below is a few pictures of some machined parts that will make up The X drive for one side of my table. The opposite side is the same other than the flanged shaft has a different base mounting.

[millman52]

Finally caught a couple hours to mount up my X drive motor, reduction assemblys. I still gave to fab up & install springs to hold the pinion gear in constant mesh to the rack.

I thought about using small nitrogen gas filled shocks, similar to what is on most hood & deck lids these days. I have never seen gas filled shocks used for this & wondered what others may think of using them for this application.

[massajamesb]

they might work, or how about a small air cylinder? Then you could push/pull.
I don't know how many small gas shocks you will find that will pull in the direction needed, you might have to make a rocker arm to do that.

[Greolt]

KISS.

Don't complicate a simple task. Spring will work. It's simple, cheap and doesn't care about a gritty environment.

Greg

[millman52]

With paying work & loosing personel getting in the way the last few weeks I haven't been getting much done on my table. Things are settling down a bit again & I am wanting to get back on it today if possible.

[millman52]

managed to get the slat holders burned out from 5/16" material this evening. I will bolt them to the sides of the framework that will make up the material support table. I'll post some pictures later this weekend if all goes well.

[millman52]

Finally got some time to work on my torch a bit. Made a cross member to tie the long X rails together in the center and also double as support for the slat holder rails. Below are some pics of the work.

The slat holders are made from 5/16" HRS burned in 24" sections. They are bolted to the side of 2 X 2 X 1/4 wall box tubing. I designed them to be bolted in short sections. In case of damage small sections can be replaced easily.

The entire slat rail assemblys are then bolted to the main frame ends & center cross member.

The slats are from 1/4" X 4" HRS strap sawn to length then pushed into place.

[millman52]

Made legs fot the outside 4 corners from 2 1/4" Cold rolled steel. Overkill I know but I had them left over from other jobs.

I made bolt blocks to attach to the main frame from 1" X 2" HRS & welded them in place. I used 1" to space the 3 sides down level with the front edge of the table. I dropped the front frame rail 1 " to help protect the precision rail from damage while loading the table with sheet stock

The triangle shaped pieces are from 1/2" HRS with the 2 1/4" legs welded to them. The entire leg assembly bolts to the bottom of the table.

I have made my own design leveling feet for the legs I'll detail them in my next post.

[Dale Heart]

I did the same thing with the slat holders that you did (make them bolt-able). When I finished my table... I thought, 'what have I done? I've wasted to much money on these stupid holders!' But, a few weeks latter I visited a cutting shop which runs non-stop and their table is similar to mine but without the bolt-able slat holders. Basically... their slats are fused to the table and they can't get the slats out... and the dross keeps building up and they are having problems with the fumes now. So... I was pleased with myself knowing I'm not going to have such maintenance problems.

[millman52]

With the legs mounted & the adjusters made & installed, I flipped the table back right-side-up. It was super simple to adjust the table to level & lock the adjustments in place.

I welded 1 of the sockets from the temporary jack stands in the center of the table. Just in case additional support is needed

[ghjr]

Nice machine!
Did you purchase the rack from an online source? Looking for a reasonably priced, low hasal source.

[millman52]

Nice machine!
Did you purchase the rack from an online source? Looking for a reasonably priced, low hasal source.

I purchased mine from McMaster Carr It may not have been the least expensive. It was however hastle free. I ordered & had it 2 days later it was packaged great & arrived with no damage. The pinion gears & the notched belt pulleys came from economy belt. I have read in other posts there is a rack & pinion manufacturer somewhere here in the north east US that sells direct. I was tired of searching when I went with McMaster. I have used them for lots of other supplies & their service is second to none.

[millman52]

Been a while since I posted. Not much more real progress on the table. Just kind of burned out on the project for a while. Am hoping to get back with it soon.

[millman52]

Finally, back in the mood to work on my table. I have built brackets & installed them to keep my X axis drive pinions spring loaded into the rack gear.

I purchased some Igus echain from ebay to contain all my hoses & wires. After spending the larger part of a day trying to figure a way to mount the stuff to keep it out of harms way & out of the way of normal operation of the table along the long X axis I have decided to not use it. I have decided to build a couple of arms to attach to each end of the table & extend apx 5' vertically. Stretch cable between them & simply use a festoon system. It might not look as nice as the echain but a festoon is very functional & much easier to add to or remove from than the echain. Pictues to follow.

[millman52]

Here are a couple pics of my spring tensioners one for each side of the table.

I decided to build my own festoon rollers as most of them that can be purchased are above $20.00 each & made from plastic.

I still have to weld the threaded bottom tab to complete the yoke. The bottom tab is threaded so I can attach a swivel on which to mount all hoses & wires.

[twjohnson13]

Millman, two reasons for this reply; one to motivate you some more; great looking table. Have seen many home built tables and some have not been impressed with at all. Two because i have the plasma cnc table fever and would like to build my own table. Temporarily in a bind because my partner going through a divorce. Lost much equipement and our shop but are slowly getting back on our feet. I am searching the internet for a table to build and found this one months ago and have been watching progress; I LIKE!! Have you thought about electronics yet. Servoes or steppers? Who`s drives and how about height control. Keep up the good work! You have motivated me to begin to accumulate material.