Making your own LR32 guide rail

[Warrior]

Has anyone thought about making your own holes in a longer guide rail by using the LR32 and router set up with the 1080 rail?

Just a thought, since I have a few rails kickin around and would love the longer rail with holes. I am just not in love with the price to get one at the moment. It seems as though the right bit would make quick work of this.

Eiji

 

[nickao]

I have thought about it. Even set up my drill press with stops But I haven't done it yet. I haven't determined which bit to go with. My drill bits are pretty bad. It is simpler for me not to use a router because my drill press is set up for repetive cuts like this already and would make really quick work of it. I have an incra fence on the press so the precision will be dead on.

I will search the forums and a few other places.

Nickao.

 

[Scott W.]

Great minds think alike!

I was just noodling over this very thing earlier today. I have a rail with the holes, why couldn't I use it to put holes in my other rails.

Let me know if you figure out a good way to do it.

Scott W.

 

[James Metcalf]

One item to note is that the holes in the LR32 are not round. They are oval in shape.  I could have used a longer rail today.

 

[Les]

This has been discussed before. The consensus, if I remember correctly, was that the holes in the LR 32 rail are not round but oval. This makes using the locating pin impossible without alterations. I purchased a second 1080 LR 32 rail and used the longitudinal stops, 485760, butted end to end in each of the 2 rails to locate them for the correct spacing, then used the rail connectors to lock them together. I was able to drill a row of holes over 6.5' long. It would be handy to have an extra set of the stops, $10.70.

Can't remember who originally posted this solution but it works quite well and is much cheaper if you already have one of the 1080 LR 32 rails.

 

[poto]

Not having seen the LR 32, this may be way out of line ... but ... if the holes are oval, what if you set up your drill press like Nick, and drilled one set of holes going one way (to get round holes), and then offset the holes very slightly going back - drilling slightly off the center of the already-drilled holes - to get almost oval holes. Bascially drilling each opening twice, with the second hole offset, and each hole equally spaced away from the "true" hole center (the center of the oval). Would that serve the purpose of the oval holes of the LR 32 drilling jig?

 

[Qwas]

To get oval holes, why not tilt the rail by 30-45 degrees?

 

[nickao]

Not having seen the LR 32, this may be way out of line ... but ... if the holes are oval, what if you set up your drill press like Nick, and drilled one set of holes going one way (to get round holes), and then offset the holes very slightly going back - drilling slightly off the center of the already-drilled holes - to get almost oval holes. Bascially drilling each opening twice, with the second hole offset, and each hole equally spaced away from the "true" hole center (the center of the oval). Would that serve the purpose of the oval holes of the LR 32 drilling jig?

Exactly poto, a stop on the left and a stop on the right of the fence. Push to the left drill, push to the right drill. Then reposition and repeat. It should work fine.

Nick

 

[Warrior]

Not having seen the LR 32, this may be way out of line ... but ... if the holes are oval, what if you set up your drill press like Nick, and drilled one set of holes going one way (to get round holes), and then offset the holes very slightly going back - drilling slightly off the center of the already-drilled holes - to get almost oval holes. Bascially drilling each opening twice, with the second hole offset, and each hole equally spaced away from the "true" hole center (the center of the oval). Would that serve the purpose of the oval holes of the LR 32 drilling jig?

Poto,
I was thinking the same thing. This could be accomplished by moving the rail out 1 mm or so and re-routing. I think the router operation would work better than a drillpress operation due to the speed of the cutter.

One item to note is that the holes in the LR32 are not round. They are oval in shape.  I could have used a longer rail today.

James,
If you take a closer look at your rail you will notice that the holes are not oval but oblong. The pin in the LR32 plate is round. The oblong holes make it easier for the pin to locate the hole, since the holes only have to be accurate on the longetudinal axis of movement. The other axis is controled by the plate riding on the rib of the guide rail.

Eiji

 

[Warrior]

I will give this idea a try sometime this coming week. Wish me luck. Hey, the worst thing that could happen is that the test rail ends up a  little lighter. ;D

Eiji

 

[nickao]

Guys that metal is a breeze to cut with a drill press. When I get to mine I will post pictures. It should only take 20-30 minutes using a drill press max. The speed of the router may be faster, but on that guide it is not going to make a difference at all.

Nickao

 

[poto]

I will give this idea a try sometime this coming week. Wish me luck. Hey, the worst thing that could happen is that the test rail ends up a  little lighter. ;D

Eiji

And holy. Or holey. Or something...

 

[nickao]

It will come out great I am sure of it, you  have it all worked out.

Nick

 

[Mirko]

Hey guys,

The best way IMO to drill these holes would be to use a indexing pin, for example:
set a pin 32 mm on center away from the drill bit on your press, then butt your rail to the pin, drill the guide,
now drop the hole you just drilled on to the pin, drill again. Once all the holes are drilled you can now move your back stop in or out to re drill the holes giving them the required "oval".

Mirko

 

[Ned]

The best way IMO to drill these holes would be to use a indexing pin, for example:
set a pin 32 mm on center away from the drill bit on your press, then butt your rail to the pin, drill the guide,
now drop the hole you just drilled on to the pin, drill again. Once all the holes are drilled you can now move your back stop in or out to re drill the holes giving them the required "oval".

Compound error.

Just buy the rail.

Ned

 

[poto]

I was thinking of the same approach, Mirko. However, if you wanted to do it with a router you could make a template out of mdf or something. Drill an oval to fit the guide bushing or copying ring of the router so that with the bit it makes the correct sized oblong in the rail. Put a piece of mdf along the underside of the template that would ride in the groove of the rail, and a pin that would register in the previously cut hole (taking into account the eccentricity of the hole). Then it should be zippiddy-do, and presto you have an LR32 

 

[Michael Kellough]

Totally agree Mirko. I get exact measurement with the incra fence though so no added error.. One may not have the cash for the guide with the holes I think that is why we are talking about this.

Nickao

Is Incra metric? I think(?) the notches are 1/32". Close enough for a couple of holes but for a long series of holes adjustments will need to be made.  For an LR 32 the holes spacing is supposed to be 32mm even, as in 32, 64, 96...

But, who says you can't make an LR 1 3/16" if you want to?

 

[Corwin]

Totally agree Mirko. I get exact measurement with the incra fence though so no added error.. One may not have the cash for the guide with the holes I think that is why we are talking about this.

Nickao

Is Incra metric? I think(?) the notches are 1/32". Close enough for a couple of holes but for a long series of holes adjustments will need to be made.  For an LR 32 the holes spacing is supposed to be 32mm even, as in 32, 64, 96...

But, who says you can't make an LR 1 3/16" if you want to?

As a US company, Incra products use Imperial scales.  However, Incra does make some products with metric scales and also offers conversion sets that include 1mm racks and metric scales that will convert their 1/32" rack based products to metric.  Shortly I will post a review of these Incra tracks and show how easily these products can work in either Imperial or metric.

As to the LR 32 system, no matter how you go about getting the size LR 32 rail you desire, when used as a fence these Incra tracks work hand-in-hand with that system.  Even without the LR 32 system, these tracks could be used to accomplish similar tasks.  While this may or may not work as nice as the LR 32 system, using some of these  Incra products does allow one to create setups for various step-and-repeat type operations that are not limited to a multiple of 32mm for spacing -- rather, these products can perform these type operations either in steps that are a multiple of 1/32" with their Imperial products or a multiple of 1mm using their converted rack-based products.

 

[Les]

Guys all  I can say is good luck. I was a Tool and Die Maker and I wouldn't try it. If you're going to go forward, instead of making oval/oblong holes, make the holes round and use a diamond locating pin. A diamond locating pin, for those who are not familiar, is a pin shaped like a baseball diamond. 2nd base and home plate are the radius of the pin and 1st and 3rd base are ground to a relief. The arc of the radius need not be more than needed to give you the longitudinal location.

 

[Warrior]

The whole point was to use the LR32 and 1080 to rout holes in a longer guide rail. By using the 1080 rail you know the spacing of the holes will be correct. I just need to come up with the proper set up since the 1080 rail will over lap the rail to be drilled.
I havent even set up or used the LR32 yet, but....

I'm thinking a piece of 19mm MDF wide enough to accomodate both rails with a 5mm deep dado the width of one rail.
I think I will pull the splinter strip off the drilled rail so the dado can capture the rail with out it being hung up on the rubber.
The dado will enable me to use just one clamp for the drilled rail and I can move the clamp to the other side of the jig as I progress with the drilling. Ahhh so many words and so little time. I will make the jig and take some pics.

Later,

Eiji