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Cart building day!!!


thope

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Maytec's website isn't the best by any means, but their free CAD software is pretty awesome. Can't find any information as to what type of weight their panels can take, i.e. to use a shelf. Wondering what people use in their t-slot builds as shelves and the like. 

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45 minutes ago, Erob said:

Maytec's website isn't the best by any means, but their free CAD software is pretty awesome. Can't find any information as to what type of weight their panels can take, i.e. to use a shelf. Wondering what people use in their t-slot builds as shelves and the like. 

 

By "t-slot" do you mean profiles like 80/20 and Item profiles (the German company)? I had to build the sliding shelves and fixed shelves myself for all of my carts --- couldn't find any commercially produced shelves that were aluminum and light enough. I built the shelves out of aluminum channel and tube stock and perforated aluminum sheets. There may be commercially available parts now that I am not aware of.

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On 4/11/2020 at 12:04 PM, Derek H said:

I was just wondering the same thing. It appears that the axle is somehow mounted to the end of a t-slot bar. Are you using a single long axle through the whole bar or individual axle bolts? Did you have a custom piece machined to hold the axles?

Hi guys,

 

Hope everyone is holding up well in these trying times!

 

Wheels are mounted to the cart by a single long axel through the entire length of the t slot. I was lucky that the diameter of the T slot centre hole matched that of the wheel. So all I did was cut a steel bar to length and then cut a thread into each end.

 

I purchased everything from Maytec. The free design software is amazing! They have a range of excellent panels to use for shelving. In the end I went for a composite material. Its hard plastic in the middle sandwiched by very thin pieces of aluminium. Its exceptionally light weight and strong enough for purposes. The only thing is that it does get scratched easily.

 

Trev

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11 hours ago, thope said:

In the end I went for a composite material

Good to know, they do have a lot of options for panels, hard to pick which one is best. Really loving their design software, easy to see how much it weighs/cost as the creativity flows...easy to see when to dial it back some haha. 

 

15 hours ago, Jeff Wexler said:

By "t-slot" do you mean profiles like 80/20 and Item profiles (the German company)?

That's exactly what I mean! Appreciate the insight into how you had to build them, going to be checking that method out for sure.

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10 hours ago, Erob said:

 

That's exactly what I mean! Appreciate the insight into how you had to build them, going to be checking that method out for sure.


on my cart only the equipment enclosure is built out of t-slot profiles. I use regular slides as you can buy anywhere for drawers and such things, and I‘ll attach them directly to the piece of gear I want to slide out. See below for the CL-9. Below the 788 there hides a keyboard that also slides out. 
This means I have to adapt it to every new piece of equipment, but it’s also lighter than an actual drawer or general purpose slide. 
 

 

5F769814-7DC7-4ECE-86C6-BA0AEA878A6C.jpeg

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1 hour ago, Derek H said:

What has everyone’s approach to t-slot fasteners been for frame construction. For example 80/20s anchor fasteners look good and strong but having to mill every single bar seems rediculous unless you own the tooling to do it yourself. 

The 8020 anchor fasteners are my favorite method by far.  They are very stiff, and I have not had any issues with loosening over time, or shifting under stress.  It's far easier to have 8020 do the machining for you when you order the parts.  They also sell the tools to do it your self if you have a drill press.

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2 hours ago, Constantin said:

I use regular slides as you can buy anywhere for drawers and such things, and I‘ll attach them directly to the piece of gear I want to slide out.

 

Are you using an adapter that slides into the slot then gives you a threaded hole to screw the drawers and everything into? I saw 8020 has something like that, gives you some standard screw mounting points. I really like your cart as well Constantin, has a few features I might implement into my own. 

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12 hours ago, Erob said:

 

Are you using an adapter that slides into the slot then gives you a threaded hole to screw the drawers and everything into? I saw 8020 has something like that, gives you some standard screw mounting points. I really like your cart as well Constantin, has a few features I might implement into my own. 


Thanks! Sure, copy away. Yes, it’s like you describe, and as Derek has mentioned, there are various possibilities to mount things to these profiles. The most common, perhaps, is the nut which can be dropped in and provides various sizes of thread. Since I am using fairly small (and light) profiles there are only three thread sizes available. But that’s sufficient for most situations. 
For me that was the biggest pitfall with the T-slot style system: all the nuts and fixtures and everything needed. The profiles themselves are not that expensive, but once you buy all the mounting material it adds up quickly. 
Still, in return you get a tremendous amount of flexibility and I just love this system. 

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6 hours ago, Derek H said:

Are you guys choosing the lightweight profiles that have more hollows inside or the full strength versions?

 

 Also 1” or 1.5”? I guess that would equate to 25mm or 40mm?


In my case, I‘m using the regular full strength version, but it’s very small, in fact it’s 20 x 20mm (0.78“) . Of course, it won’t be as strong as the larger types, but I only use it to house the equipment. The cart itself is a regular (aluminum) hand truck. I have to admit that I work by trial and error. So I made a plan, bought the material and built the case and cart. No calculations regarding strength, but so far it hold up fine. I use quite a few support rails to strengthen the construction. Here is a picture from an earlier build version that illustrates the rails and also how inside, too, every bit of equipment can be fairly easily and, if you want, creatively affixed to the profiles. Also... lots of cables, not tidied up yet
 

 

4B6A4DA0-C947-4452-911B-0DA0DCAAC0E5.jpeg

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1 hour ago, Erob said:

Does this live on your cart at all times? Or can you remove it easily for transport and then put it back on when you get to location? 

 

 


on my cart? No, it all stays, that’s the point. Everything is bolted down and can’t move. I have access panels on the side if I need to switch a cable or whatever. But generally, everything stays as is and since the strain gear and cables is pretty low (as I don’t have to plug/unplug at all) there a very few gear issues

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I should have clarified, I meant the whole rig. Not the individual pieces of equipment. I've seen some people who have cases or such that they just slap on the cart and lock it down, so I was wondering if that's what you were doing.

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6 hours ago, Erob said:

I should have clarified, I meant the whole rig. Not the individual pieces of equipment. I've seen some people who have cases or such that they just slap on the cart and lock it down, so I was wondering if that's what you were doing.


oh I see, but still no. Everything is locked and bolted together. My ideal is to pull the cart out of the car and I‘m basically ready to record. Even the antennas now stay on the cart. Much faster that way. 

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