linear rails

[lgalla]

Ihave seen this question in other posts but never a responce.
How do you mount linear rails accuratly

[JerryFlyGuy]

Igalla, it all depends on what level of accuracy you are shooting for, and what type of equipment you have available to you, to get there. I'm currently working on mounting my rails and should have some concrete answers sometime in the next week or two. You can read about some of the idea's here on what was suggested and my final choice on how I'm going to do it.
There are many different way's to skin this cat..

I've finally got all my needed jig's laser cut and shipped here on last thursday, now I just need to finish drilling and tapping them [ I'm about 1/2 done] and then I start mounting the rails. Once I know if my route will work or not.. I'll be posting it back there on the other thread.

I guess thats really not a direct answer for you, but a start non-the-less..

Jerry

[Geof]

.......Once I know if my route will work or not......Jerry

THINK POSITIVELY!!!!!! Rephrase this....."When I have my rails installed I will post and describe the fine details and problems I had to solve for this first machine"

[imobscure]

I just picked up a precision vertical stage that was part of a confocal microscope on ebay. It uses crossed roller bearings between rails attached to a heavy aluminum casting. There are setscrews in the casting every 2 inches or so to tweak the alignment of the rails. I also worked on equipment where eccentric inserts were the technique of choice.

Brian

[LeeWay]

If you already have a mill, especially a cnc mill, it makes matters very easy. If not, there are several methods you could use. Most rail makers have cad drawings on the websites. You can download these and print them lifesize to help with marking bolt locations. You can use the rails themselves with some transfer punches.
A perfectly flat mounting surface really makes it simple too. If not perfect, then shimming can be done. A feeler guage set or two would help here. I think if you have to shim, it's better to shim the rails rather than the trucks.

[JerryFlyGuy]

I guess I should have written a to-do list to look back over and then go back and do write up's about things like this.

For the record. This process of jigging the rails into alignment did not work as hoped. I've since applied a completely different approach for my machine which did work. However, given the chance, I'd change it once again to a different [yet similar] process from the one I ended up doing.

The mill is completed and currently up and running..