[sdiy] modular mounting rails?

[Scott Gravenhorst]

How thick was the steel?  I used to have to do alot
of tapping with 1/8 inch steel.  I was shown by one
of the machinists to lubricate the hole, and you turn
the tap in a bit and back it out, in a bit and back
it out.  Every so often, clear the bits of metal.
I never broke a tap doing what they said.  6-32 thru
10-32 mostly.  I used a hand held tapping tool.

Don Tillman <don at till.com> wrote:
>   From: ElmacacoX at aol.com
>   Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2001 15:47:15 EST
>
>   those of you who build your own modular cabinates and stuff, what
>   do you use for the rails?  and where can I get them?
>
>I just built a modular enclosure with MOTM-compatible mounts.  I tried
>to do a nice job and it turned out to be a lot of work.  (Surprise.)
>
>For the rails I used an L-shaped 3/4-inch by 3/4-inch, 1/8-inch thick,
>aluminum beam, available at Home Depot or any well-stocked hardware
>store, drilled holes with a #29 drill, tapped them to 8-32, and took a
>slice of the beam off with a band saw to bring it down to 1/2-inch by
>3/4-inch.
>
>(I attempted using an L-shaped 1/2-inch by 1/2-inch steel beam, also
>available at Home Depot, but tapping steel screw holes must require
>special skills and knowledge that I don't have.  I kept breaking the
>taps.)
>
>If you don't have access to a drill press and band saw (or if you're
>smarter than me and you don't want to go through that much trouble) 
>you can either get mounting brackets from SynthTech or use wood rails.
>
>  -- Don
>
>-- 
>Don Tillman
>Palo Alto, California, USA
>don at till.com
>http://www.till.com
>

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