Ahh yes, another project! This time the ShopBot is finally getting a well earned upgrade! In this video I go over what it's gonna take and what will happen during the process.
F15sim, I've worked with ShopBots for over 25yrs. I've done several of the hardened rail upgrades to my personal machines over the years. A few points of interest to be aware of. The BWC (Bishopwiscarver) rail that you had the printed model of, there were two version of that rail that we used in house. One only had through holes and the other was threaded (10-32?). The reason I mention this is you are going to want to maintain level across the top of these rails during installation. If you go with the through hole type you will need to be crazy accurate when tapping into the existing rail. The threaded rail, while still needing to have accurate hole location, may be a little more forgiving and allow for slight up or down adjustments if the mounting hole needs to be oversized slightly. Last point. When mounting the new hardened rail. Mount them inboard to the machine. Your 1st placement in the video (21:16) is correct. At (21:36) flip the rail to the inside. This eliminates trying to stretch the Gantry. Mounting inboard you will only need to space the BWC bearings out to meet the rail with 3/8" washer and shim washer spacing. Also use Button Head Cap screws for your fasteners to help maintain as low of a profile as possible to eliminate collisions with the inside the X-car. I hope this helps. B.
Excellent advice! Thank you! I wasn't aware that the rail could be ordered threaded. My intention was to tightly clamp the rail down, center mark all the holes, drill them a bit over size, and then use button head screws & lock nuts to fasten the rail down. I can make ABS "hats" that would sit atop the rail and allow a clamp a more stable grip on the rail as well. Thanks for the tips - they're greatly appreciated!
F15sim,
I've worked with ShopBots for over 25yrs. I've done several of the hardened rail upgrades to my personal machines over the years. A few points of interest to be aware of. The BWC (Bishopwiscarver) rail that you had the printed model of, there were two version of that rail that we used in house. One only had through holes and the other was threaded (10-32?). The reason I mention this is you are going to want to maintain level across the top of these rails during installation. If you go with the through hole type you will need to be crazy accurate when tapping into the existing rail. The threaded rail, while still needing to have accurate hole location, may be a little more forgiving and allow for slight up or down adjustments if the mounting hole needs to be oversized slightly.
Last point. When mounting the new hardened rail. Mount them inboard to the machine. Your 1st placement in the video (21:16) is correct. At (21:36) flip the rail to the inside. This eliminates trying to stretch the Gantry. Mounting inboard you will only need to space the BWC bearings out to meet the rail with 3/8" washer and shim washer spacing. Also use Button Head Cap screws for your fasteners to help maintain as low of a profile as possible to eliminate collisions with the inside the X-car.
I hope this helps.
B.
Excellent advice! Thank you! I wasn't aware that the rail could be ordered threaded. My intention was to tightly clamp the rail down, center mark all the holes, drill them a bit over size, and then use button head screws & lock nuts to fasten the rail down. I can make ABS "hats" that would sit atop the rail and allow a clamp a more stable grip on the rail as well.
Thanks for the tips - they're greatly appreciated!