I emailed the guy at vgrooverail.com. Here's wheat I got back.

"I just have 35.5" pieces with holes pre drilled. $31 each plus $15 shipping."

Pretty steep on the shipping. Grainger has 48" pieces @33.45 plus local tax. Cold rolled 52100 steel Much better deal which is surprising since Grainger is usually 3 times more expensive than anyone else.

http://www.grainger.com/product/PBC-Linear-Linear-Rail-2CRV9?nls=1&searchQuery=2crv9


All this assuming that we are talking like product. That being VRD1 rail. Mark, is that what the rail here at OpenBuilds is?

My thought is to use steel rail and steel wheels on the top and existing aluminum rail and Delrin wheels on the bottom. Does that sound workable?

 

Here's one from McMaster for $36.18 at 4 feet (with 1/2" x 1/2") so it is a little different.
http://www.mcmaster.com/#5174T11
Their shipping is about $8 to my home in central NY.
Hope that helps,
BTW - @Hytech2k - Will you have time today to place the files for the plates in the Files section? ...or are they somewhere else already?
Thank you again - amazing!

 

If you are talking about rack, they also have the 1/2 x 3/4 that is pre drilled. That is what I used on mine.

 

Zoro.com has the rail cheaper then Grainger (Zoro is a subsidiary of Grainger)

http://www.zoro.com/pbc-linear-v-guide-drilled-linear-rails/g/00219971/

McMaster has V-groove rail as well (part# 1582T3) but it is more expensive, although it is larger (width and height)

 

Groovy! Thanks @Hytech2k . Very grateful.

 

I have upgraded to Geralds F117 and I as well have had a couple of wheels split in half too. Have less than 5 hrs of run time on them. Kind of dissapointing.

 

The xtreme polycarbonate ones.

Matt

 

Hello,

I've really enjoyed reading about your build. I just completed a 4'x4' build and am in the process of getting all aligned, cables routed, and finishing touches. However I have always wanted to a smaller footprint CNC router that would be very rigid and made purposely to work with non ferrous metals and plastics for small projects. Portability would be a nice feature as well.

Your design is just a super example of a well thought out machine. It will be very interesting to see you come up with a solution for the failing wheels.

The move to steel rails would be quite expensive if you were to use the wheels as depicted in the Grainger catalog. If I understand this would be only for the top rail?

My upcoming plan is to build my machine just like you've done just a bit smaller but using the exact same materials. I'm betting that this machine will have the stiffness that I'm going to need to machine metals other that steel of course.

Thanks for all the information you've given to this community of builders and experimenters.

I look forward to reading more of your posts.

Regards,

Lee

 

You may want to look at BishopWisecarver's DualVee wheels or their lower cost MadeWell wheels. They also have the track and a slew more options which could be of interest to builders here. Not to forget Igus' twist on linear slides, screws, etc. Of course, neither are the lowest cost alternatives ... While MetalsDepot could get some support beams, plates, etc.

 

Those of you trying steel wheels on the aluminum how is the wear?
Those trying delrin how's the accuracy with running those?

I have most of my parts at this point but I'm waiting on ordering the wheels until these options are tested since multiple sets of wheels add up quickly and I'm trying to stay within budget on this build.

 

Just wondering what kind of solution you came up for the Wheel dilema. I also am very curious about this very problem for my own build. A cost effective solution would be great.

Lee

 

From my experience the open rail wears out FAST. My steel rails haven't arrived yet so been running steel wheels on the open rail for the gantry. Can definitely see wear - black coming off and where the transition from angle to straight should be smooth, it is now sharp and ragged where the gantry is running the most. And that is with not a lot of use. Only three or four signs.

 

Surface work only or deeper cuts? Would you suggest going all delrin or the 6/2 combo you're currently running? Most of my work is going to be 3/4" plywood and I know plunge cuts are going to take more force than surface work which is where most of my concern is from.

 

Well I received my steel rails from Zoro. Should have paid more attention to the detail specs. I don't know that I can get them to work with my setup - i.e. installing on a 25-5010 vslot. If you look at the picture comparison, I would need to drill and tap each hole in the v-slot rail that would be very near the top and doing so may affect the structural integrity. Another option would be to epoxy them onto the rail. That seems to be the most doable but would have to research on what epoxy to use.
Hopefully Gerald or Mark will find a better bolt on solution.

 

Greg,

I had the same concern with those rails when looking at the spec sheet. I think epoxy would work, although at the cost of being rather permanent. The other option would be to mount the v-rail to a plate, and secure the plate to the extrusion. However, I think you could get away with taping the rail, although I doubt I would use every hole.

 

I'll be working on it this weekend. First attempt will be to drill hole and use sheet metal screws. Tested it on the v-slot scrap I had, but the 5010 I use for the X rail is a bit thicker so don't know for sure it will work in it. If not will try the tap method and lastly epoxy.

You also got me thinking about using a plate. Might be possible to do that - or maybe rip off the V section of the existing open rail, epoxy the new rail to the now flush open rail and reattach. Problem with that is I dont want to need new plates, so the spacing for wheels would have to work by adjusting spacers.

 

I'm running on steel - well the gantry is anyway. That is where I had the big problem with the extreme wheels. Then switched to steel wheels and saw the aluminum open rail deteriate rapidly. I don't have as much problem with the Y wheels and rails I think because I have been doing maily 3d profiles using X rastor. So a lot of carriage movement and minimal Y motion.

Anyway I used steel rail from Zoro.com. At first I tried to tape the rail to the 5010 extrusion (my X rail) and drill a pilot hole and drive in the sheet metal screws. However it was too difficult to get the rail positioned correctly, especially with the rounded edges of the extrusion. I found when I set the screws it would move the rail slightly.

So I went to plan B. I epoxied the rail about every 6". Taped and clamped it down for an hour. Then went back to drill the pilot holes and drive the screws. This went well. Here are some pictures .
1 is the worn open rail
2 is a comparison of open rail and new steel rail
3 is the process of epoxy
4 is the X rail back on the machine
5 is a closeup of the working rails