Help identifying these linear rails and bearings.

[7milesup]

Depending on where those linear rails came from, there is a probability that they are metric.

Get some accurate measurements of the rails and then head over to Misumi, Automation Direct, McMaster or Thompson Linear to determine what size of rail you have. Once you know that, then sizing the linear bearing is easy.

 

[MikeInOr]

Thanks for the update on the rebuild of your Delta RAS. I'm attempting to put my 14" machine on a set of casters to make it easier to move around the shop. At first, I thought I could just muscle it around for the few times it should need to be moved. I quickly found out at 750 lbs. it wasn't as easy to move as I expected. The legs are only 1/8" sheet metal and tend to splay apart when attempting to slide it on a concrete floor.

To that end I am making a 1/4" thick pad to fit under each leg to support a caster. To add rigidity, I'll put a 2' x 2" x3/16" length of angle iron between each set of legs. Hopefully it will be enough to make the saw easier to move and more stable when doing so. The casters are supposedly rated to hold 2,400 lbs. They have pads that can be extended to keep the machine from moving when extended and allow easy movement when retracted.

Here are a few pictures of the pads, angle iron stabilizers, and casters mocked up on the bench for verification of fit. The next step is to clean the rust off the pads and paint everything before installation. Installation might be a little time consuming. When making the initial measurements of the leg spacing and hole locations on the bottom, I found that not all measurements are the same. I'm attributing that to the flexibility of the sheet metal, and the fact that it's been dragged across the floor a few times.

The pictures of the plates in the saw are the ones I referred to in another thread about bandsaw blades. They were originally pieces of 8" and 8 1/2" wide plate. They were all cut with a 10/14 tpi blade on the saw in the picture.

MUCH nicer than my design! Very nicely done!

I am lucky in that my base hasn't been too loosened up from scooting it around. I initially wasn't planning on keeping it but after a little scrubbing and can of paint it cleaned up quite nicely.

How do you like the casters? There is a local Facebook marketplace post with 100 of them that look to be a very similar design. I IM'd and offered him $10 each for 8 of them. I think I might pick up 12 of them if I like the looks. How are they working out for you? I can always use decent casters and I like the leveling option!

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[projectnut]

The casters I bought are Korean copies of the ones in the Facebook add. There is a thread on here about them. They are supposed to be top of the line. I believe they sell for around $80.00 to $100.00 each new

I won’t be trying mine out until after Christmas. The saw is in the garage at the family cottage about 100 miles from our house.

I’m getting some work done on my back next week at Mayo Clinic in Rochester Mn. We’re planning on heading to the cottage for a few days between Christmas and New Years. If things work out well I’ll try to install the casters then.

 

[projectnut]

Got a chance to do some work on the RAS today. I installed the casters and added some angle iron between the legs to stiffen things up. This step took a little longer than I expected. It turned out all the holes in the bottoms of the legs weren't the same size or in some cases even round. The casters have 12mm studs, but the holes in the legs were supposedly 13/32". I had to remove the legs one at a time and redrill the center holes to 1/2" for clearance. I believe the holes were punched before the sheet metal was bent to the current shape. The halves of two of the center holes didn't match up after the bending process. A couple of the end holes were only 11/32". They had to be enlarged to accommodate the 3/8" bolts.

The casters have made a world of difference as far as moving the saw around the garage. It used to take all the strength I had to move it a couple feet. Now I can move it any distance I want with one hand. The next step is to add a shelf on the angle iron. After that I'll start on the table. I'm going to need to use it in a couple weeks so for the near future the table will be reinstalled as it is. Future modifications will include shortening it a bit, and possibly adding the linear rails.

Here are a few pictures of the new casters.

 

[MikeInOr]

Very nicely done! How do you like the casters? The seller on Facebook flaked out on my so I never bought any.

 

[projectnut]

The casters work better than I expected for moving the saw around. I was expecting them to catch on any debris on the floor and stop immediately. They do however pass over small metal chips and pieces of dirt easily. There isn't much debris on the floor now, but I would expect them to get hung up on anything the size of a dime or larger.

The extension or leveling pads do keep the saw in place when extended. If all you're trying to do is keep the machine from moving around the pads can be just lowered by turning the adjusting nut by hand until they are firmly in contact with the floor. Using them to level the machine is a little different story. I can't apply enough pressure by hand to raise the machine. I can apply enough pressure to the adjusting nut by inserting the blade of a flat screwdriver between the lugs on the adjusting nut and using the body of the caster as a fulcrum. I wouldn't suggest this method since the adjusting nut has a plastic outer surface and could be damaged. It's much easier and quicker to use a lever under the leg to relieve the pressure then just scroll the pad down by hand.

There are different style casters available with built in levers for raising and lowering the pads. They are however considerably more expensive than the ones I purchased. Mine are Korean copies of the Foot Master GD series. They are Wheel Master from CasterHQ. The same style Foot Masters are roughly double the price I paid. Those with the adjusting levers are roughly triple what I paid. I don't intend to move the saw much once it's located in the shop. I thought the Wheel Master's would do the job without breaking the bank.

 

[MikeInOr]

I finally got a chance to get the actual measurements on the linear rails.

~ .786" or 20mm by
~.606" or 15.4mm

I think they are HSR20 rails? But the specs I am seeing say HSR20 rails are 18mm tall... hmmm? Yikes, the linear bearing blocks aren't cheap for HSR20 rails!

 

[MikeInOr]

Quality tap search on ebay:
{size you want} tap (Morse, Guhring, Greenfield, Nachi, Emuge, Beloit, Regal, OSG, YG1)

Ex:


Thank you Project nut. I needed to buy some more taps (I found a 6 pack of Greenfield). Feel free to add any more quality tap manufactures?

I can't help with the bearings and rails, but there are several listings for 12-24 taps on eBay. They aren't as cheap as they were pre-pandemic, but there are still some reasonable prices at less than $4.00 per unit. There are currently 454 listings, but many are cheap offshore or lower quality US and European brands. I would stick with the HSS professional brands like Morse, Guhring, Greenfield, Nachi, Emuge, and others.

Here are a couple of the listings:

MORSE 12-24 HSS Spiral Point Plug Tap List 2070x , EDP 34247 (USA) | eBay

<p>LOT of 4- Morse cutting tools 12-24 spirial point steam oxide tap. EDP 34147. Unopened. </p>

www.ebay.com

Morse 12-24 Plug Tap Spiral Pointed NC Taps HSS 2 Flute 12 Pack USA Made | eBay

CHAMFER: PLUG.

www.ebay.com

I have bought quite a few taps from ztsupply over the years. They've always had good products and reasonable prices.

I noticed the saw in the picture is similar to my 14" Delta 33-400. Yours has some additional bracing near the bottom of the legs. I'm assuming it's for greater stability when moving the machine from one location to another. I'm considering something similar as well as adding plates to the bottom of the legs for casters. I recently purchased a set like these for another machine and am considering them for the Delta saw.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07B7Q21VB?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Can you post a couple more pictures with more detail of the lower end?

P.S. Edited to include additional quality manufactures from ProjectNut

 

[projectnut]

Here are a few more name brands that I would consider higher end.
Beloit Regal or Regal
OSG
YG1
Keep in mind these companies make a variety of tap styles, classes, and a myriad of coatings for specific materials. Here's a link to a "Tap Primer" on the MSC Industrial website.

https://www.mscdirect.com/basicsof/high-performance-taps

If you can find an Enco Master Catalog from about 2005 to 2014 they have a more complete explanation of the different styles, coatings, and classes. I know I have many more brands in the shop, some of which have been discontinued. We're out of town right now and won't be returning home until the end of the month. When I get home, I'll go through my collection and add a few more.

 

[mmcmdl]

Taps ! I have 1000s of quality taps . Gathering them up now .