My stacking stage

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dbur
Posts: 174
Joined: Fri Apr 16, 2010 3:47 pm
Location: Oregon
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My stacking stage

Post by dbur »

Here is my Rube Goldberg stacking stage. It is built on a ball bearing pillow block (2200lb capacity) on a 1" ground steel rod balanced on the other side with a bearing rolling support. Step size per the micrometer gradations is 200 micro inch (5 microns). A fairly heavy cross slide vise adds mass and course adjustment.

It was easier than I though to run up a stack by just setting the camera (Magic Lantern) to intervelometer at 4 seconds and incrementing the micrometer after each shot.

Image
Stacking Stage-2 by dbur971, on Flickr

Image
Stacking Stage-1 by dbur971, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/s/aHsjVMEgZX for more photos.

My first attempt with it:
https://flic.kr/p/2dtr3TN

BugEZ
Posts: 850
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2011 7:15 pm
Location: Loves Park Illinois

Post by BugEZ »

Thanks for sharing this! The bearing in the second photo that supports the tipping load runs on a wooden board. Were there any special flattening steps taken on the wooden surface? The pillow block looks robust and accurate.

Keith

bralex
Posts: 129
Joined: Mon Jan 22, 2018 11:34 am
Location: New Mexico, USA

Post by bralex »

I was going to suggest almost the same thing. If you planed it down a few mm and glued a piece of metal on there it would be notably flatter and would wear better - it won't take long for a groove to wear into the wood.

Overall I think it's a great improvisation - you've got coarse and fine adjustment, which is a step better than mine!

dbur
Posts: 174
Joined: Fri Apr 16, 2010 3:47 pm
Location: Oregon
Contact:

Post by dbur »

Those base rails are made of ironwood (a form of lignum vitae), which is about as hard as the name implies. Also very stable. Part were machined on an NC mill so all is very precise. The ball bearing turns freely so there is no rubbing there and will probably not have any effect on that surface for 100 years of use. The rod sits in 3/4" deep interference fit pockets.

BugEZ
Posts: 850
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2011 7:15 pm
Location: Loves Park Illinois

Post by BugEZ »

debur,

Your wooden plank sounds robust. Happy stacking!

I envy your chunks of ironwood. My uncle in Tucson made a lovely rolling pin from that stuff and my cousins are already squabbling over who will inherit it. In Illinois we don’t see much ironwood in lumber sizes.

Keith

dbur
Posts: 174
Joined: Fri Apr 16, 2010 3:47 pm
Location: Oregon
Contact:

Post by dbur »

I made my entire deck surface of ironwood. It's what they use on the Atlantic City boardwalk. It was not that much more expensive than some of the synthetic materials. I ordered it delivered to Oregon from I think Texas. You should be able to find it from various lumber supply companies. I've made a bunch of things from the leftover stock. Mine is all 1" 2x6 so you might want something thicker for a rolling pin. Check toxicity, though it's probably OK if you aren't grinding any material off into your food.

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