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.
Stacking Stage-2 by dbur971, on Flickr
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
My stacking stage
Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau
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!
Overall I think it's a great improvisation - you've got coarse and fine adjustment, which is a step better than mine!
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.
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.