Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: MOTM

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From: John Loffink [mailto:jloffink@...]
Sent: Wednesday, July 19, 2006 12:25 PM
To: 'Tkacs, Ken'; 'MOTM Forum All'
Subject: RE: [motm] Flat rails, anyone?

If flat rails become unavailable, then using solid oak trim is a good solution.  I tested a piece for #8 screw threading and removal and gave up after 60-70 tries.  It seemed like it would never wear out.  Just make sure the pilot hole isn’t too big, and use the screw to form the threads inside the wood.  As I mount my flat rails to oak anyway since the mounting holes in plywood “float” too much, making the rail position imprecise, the flat rails seem to be a nice but extraneous and expensive feature.  They are easily the most expensive part of my cabinets.

 

I used this same method for a Wiard 300 cabinet, which uses smaller #4 screws, and it is working just fine.

 

http://www.wavemakers-synth.com/motm/diy_resources.html

 

John Loffink

The Microtonal Synthesis Web Site

http://www.microtonal-synthesis.com

The Wavemakers Synthesizer Web Site

http://www.wavemakers-synth.com

 

-----Original Message-----
From: motm@yahoogroups.com [mailto:motm@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Tkacs, Ken
Sent: Wednesday, July 19, 2006 12:58 PM
To: MOTM Forum All
Subject: FW: [motm] Flat rails, anyone?

 

 

>>>>>

Hi all, 

 

I'm building a 24U wide, two row cabinet, and I need flat rails to mount the 

modules. After all the drama, I assume it is no longer for sale anywhere?

 

<<<<<

 

 

 

Another thing that you can do in a pinch is use normal rack rails. What I mean by that is the kind of rails that you would buy if you were constructing your own 19” rack enclosure. I only looked at these quickly, but something like this:

 

http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-RAX-RKRL6--m-11_65_271.html

 

I used such a setup for a while before diving into the woodworking. In fact, this might be the same exact brand that I used. I had three pairs of these rails about 12u “high” each. Turned horizontally, I bolted two of the pair together back-to-back (they are L-shaped in cross-section), with the third pair split as the “top” and “bottom” rails. After bolting a bunch of MOTM modules to these, the whole thing holds itself together with no other back or sides (naturally, for your safety and the safety of your modules, you wouldn’t want to leave it like this, but as an interim measure, this worked for me).

 

All I’m saying is that if the Stooge flat rails are ever really gone for good, maybe turning to something like these rails and building a cabinet around them would be the way to go.

 

One thing to be aware of – the tapped holes in a 19” rack are a size larger than those in the Stooge flat rails. I don’t remember the exact sizes off-hand, but if Paul is shipping #8x32 machine screws with the modules, then you need #10x32 I think for the rack (whatever standard rack-mount screws are). The holes in the corners of MOTM modules “just about exactly” pass a #10, so you may end up nicking the paint a little bit (inside, in the mounting holes normally covered by the screws). Just mentioning this because it’s not and perfect fit and if you’re sloppy the screws may dig into the sides of the mounting holes a tad.

 

But it does work. And they’re relatively cheap. There are other lengths available – see the sidebar at right.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Ken T.