Vertical Tracks for Forklift

[Michael Hill]

Originally Posted by asid61

Plain old 2x1. 1/16" wall, but we can switch to 1/8" if we need to.

If only we could find 1/16" wall east of the Mississippi....it is a REAL struggle to find that stuff. There was a thread a while ago that was looking for sources for it, but all of those seem to have dried up. Does it even qualify as COTS anymore if we can't get it? It shows up in some catalogs, but if you call them up, they just don't carry it. Alro said the only way we could get it would be through a custom mill run...

[asid61]

Originally Posted by Michael Hill

If only we could find 1/16" wall east of the Mississippi....it is a REAL struggle to find that stuff. There was a thread a while ago that was looking for sources for it, but all of those seem to have dried up. Does it even qualify as COTS anymore if we can't get it? It shows up in some catalogs, but if you call them up, they just don't carry it. Alro said the only way we could get it would be through a custom mill run...

Check your local metal shops if you haven't already. We get our stock from Alan Steel, although I want to investigate that place the Poofs use in the offseason.
This place has 2 x 1 x 1/16" but it's 6063, not 6061: metalsdepot.com part# T321116.

[MichaelBick]

Originally Posted by asid61

Check your local metal shops if you haven't already. We get our stock from Alan Steel, although I want to investigate that place the Poofs use in the offseason.
This place has 2 x 1 x 1/16" but it's 6063, not 6061: metalsdepot.com part# T321116.

I definitely would recommend against using 6063. It almost seems like a completely different material

[jimwick]

We are using 80/20 for the vertical rails. Our traveling element uses skateboard bearings.
The whole thing works smooth as ice and was easy to build. Can easily lift 4 totes and a bin. Very successful so far.

[nuclearnerd]

Originally Posted by MichaelBick

I definitely would recommend against using 6063. It almost seems like a completely different material

We've got the worst of both worlds The only thing in stock in town is 1/8" wall 6063. For comparison, Versaframe (3/32" wall, 6061) is 60% stronger and 20% lighter by my calculations. (Although the thicker wall tube is 18% stiffer.)

The downside of Versaframe is that it costs about double what the 6063 costs from Metal Supermarkets (on a per-foot basis), only comes in 5' lengths, and has a shipping delay. But considering the extra strength and the usefulness of the pre-drilled holes, Versaframe is worth the premium for critical parts IMHO.

/derail

[Michael Hill]

Originally Posted by asid61

Check your local metal shops if you haven't already. We get our stock from Alan Steel, although I want to investigate that place the Poofs use in the offseason.
This place has 2 x 1 x 1/16" but it's 6063, not 6061: metalsdepot.com part# T321116.

Yeah, I wasn't kidding about the east of the Mississippi thing. Don't use 6063. You want 6061-T6. I've called about 2 dozen metal suppliers. It's really not as common as you think it is. And I checked some major manufacturing areas. I found only one in Cleveland and they were wanting $11.50/ft, which is ridiculous. Dayton is a no-go and so is Cincinnati and Columbus. I had to laugh at a comment in the thread for it that it should be available at any decent metal supplier. If it's not available in major manufacturing cities like these, then someone is a bit deluded.

Also, the Poofs get their 6061-T6 from Coast Aluminum.

[nuclearnerd]

We're using these:
http://www.mcmaster.com/#6738k41/=vnxcue
http://www.pbclinear.com/Download/Da...ear-Guides.pdf [pdf]

They're kind of expensive at $60 each roller (for four), plus another $80 per rail but they will save us a ton of headache. I know from experience that linear bearings are hard, and bad bearings make it harder This way, the elevator can tolerate some unbalanced loading, has zero slop, goes together easily (with versaframe) and slides with low friction, even under load.

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by Michael Hill

If only we could find 1/16" wall east of the Mississippi....it is a REAL struggle to find that stuff. There was a thread a while ago that was looking for sources for it, but all of those seem to have dried up. Does it even qualify as COTS anymore if we can't get it? It shows up in some catalogs, but if you call them up, they just don't carry it. Alro said the only way we could get it would be through a custom mill run...

You will pay a price premium, but out of area suppliers will cut and ship to you.

It seems a bit odd to me that an entire side of the country can't get it, but it's available at pretty much every aluminum supplier out here.

Seems like an offseason task to find someone who will freight 2000' of it or something, and split it among teams.

Quite a few west coast teams use 100+ feet per year, so 2000' could go really fast among a good size group.

[KrazyCarl92]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

You will pay a price premium, but out of area suppliers will cut and ship to you.

It seems a bit odd to me that an entire side of the country can't get it, but it's available at pretty much every aluminum supplier out here.

I tried this before the 2014 season and tried 3 different places that seemed to have good regional coverage out west. None were willing to ship the 1/16" wall tubing to us in New York. We were able to get a supplier for 0.080" wall tubing, I could try to find more information on that if folks on CD are interested.

[JesseK]

Our usual Aluminum supplier stopped selling 6061-T6 tubes, and we ordered 6063 in the pre-season without realizing it. It gums up the bits from time to time, but that's the worst of it so far. We'll have to add quite a bit more support to our lift though .

Anyone else seeing that as well? We haven't needed more aluminum since the bulk order, so I still have time to find a better supplier.

[FrankJ]

In terms of the elevator masts 6063 has the same stiffness as 6061. I don't thing you will come close to the yield strength of either. Of course some one somewhere will be the exception.

[steelerborn]

We wanted to not rely on Vexpro or Andymark for the elevator parts, and made our own system using only mcmcastercarr parts.

It rides on a 2x1 tube and uses UHMW rollers and plates.
It is very smooth and very easy to slide and has no wiggle.
We should be powering it this weekend.

As for reductions we are using a cim going to a 10:1 planetary gearbox, then a 6.5:1 reduction using the single stage clamping gearbox from vex. We are having two of these that share a shaft, so 2 cims going through a 65:1 overall reduction.

We are going to see the system and determine if we need a brake.

[BeardyMentor]

Originally Posted by FrankJ

In terms of the elevator masts 6063 has the same stiffness as 6061. I don't thing you will come close to the yield strength of either. Of course some one somewhere will be the exception.

I was wondering if anyone else had done any sort of loading calculation to see if the 6061 vs 6063 really mattered for most applications. Unless you are skeletonizing your tubing and using terrible fastening practices, I don't think most of us are going to come close to the yield stress.