Those new PRS Shopbot x-rails...

[jeffreymcgrew]

So, my friend RBell here on the forum has a Alpha, but with the new 'PRS' rails. This got me thinking. Not that we need new rails anytime soon, but man, those stiffer x-rails would sure be nice.

Would they work on a PRT? Or are the racks different? Not that I'm gonna go steal Rob's or nothin' but if it's an upgrade that's possible I can plan for it in the future...

[Brady Watson]

Jeffrey,
Are you talking about the table sides, or the actual rails that the v-groove roller bearings ride on? Personally, I like the steel table sides better than the new AL ones, although the AL ones are more consistent than C-Channel will ever be.

-B

[jeffreymcgrew]

The table sides. I was wondering if the new PRS tools just have the same rails as my PRT, it's just that they are mounted on those nice AL extrusions (instead of bolted to wood like mine are).

I built my own table, and it's wood. Which kinda stinks. I've been talking to a friend who has a nice metal shop about trading work for them to make me a really nice metal table at some point in the future. If my PRT rails can bolt without modification onto the new table-sides from Shopbot, I might just design those into it...

[Brady Watson]

Jeffrey,
If your rails have 1/2" bolt holes, you will need to drill new holes and get the appropriate hardware from SB to mount them on the PRS/late PRT AL table sides. If they have the smaller holes (@ 3/8" or so), then I recommend drilling 5 more holes per side, as they only have 5 bolt holes per side over 10'. The extra bolts will help keep those rails secured.

If I were in your position, I would have your friend build you a gusseted steel table, like the 3G PRTs. It is by far cheaper and easier to put together than the PRS style table sides. The main issue, and most likely reason SB switched to AL, is that C-channel is very inconsistent dimensionally...So choose your steel components carefully & you will do just fine. You will see a marked improvement in the overall performance of your tool using a steel table over a wood one.

-Brady

[jeffreymcgrew]

Thanks for the tip Brady. I'll just go all steel for the table then.

If I did it over, I'd had spent the extra money to just get the readymade steel table from SB. It's not that much really, and we've had a lot of issues keeping our wood table flat (go figure)...

[harryball]

Not that I'm gonna go steal Rob's or nothin' but...

LOL... Thous shalt not covet they neighbors Alpha rails. :-)

I better go tighten those bolts one more time to make sure they don't fly off.

I personally think a steel table is the way to go. Unless you plan to upgrade to the new PRS gantry if that becomes an option I would just try to make the best all steel table I could muster and run with it.

Robert