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Monorail Slider

Posted: 09 Feb 2013, 13:17
by RoganJosh
Hey guys, I'm about to start building a 6x7 view camera and im stumped on what to use as the monorail slider and I don't want to use wood since i'm worried about it breaking. Most builders online use a t-rail setup or cabinet drawer sliders - but the t-rail sliders are expensive and the cabinet drawer sliders look kind of breakable.

So does anyone have idea of what I could use? It must be at least 300mm long and have some way of locking the standards in place. I don't mind if its ugly either; function over form.

Re: Monorail Slider

Posted: 09 Feb 2013, 14:30
by Maris
The Bender 8x10 camera I assembled used wooden sliders on a 1 inch square anodised aluminium rail extrusion. The sliding blocks consisted of a number of pieces of cherry wood glued and clamped while mounted on the 1" rail. This way when the glue sets the channel through the composite block fits the rail perfectly EXCEPT, and here is the trick, the rail is wrapped in a single layer of thin paper first. Now, when the paper is discarded, there is a tiny gap to let the block slide smoothly. Clamping the sliding blocks that carry the front standard and the rear standard is by a transverse bolt under the rail that takes up the tiny gap with light pressure. I added brass wood screws to reinforce the glue joints, didn't trust glue alone, and got super-strong sliders.
Here's a link to some pictures: http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j ... sPmwqc1b-w

Re: Monorail Slider

Posted: 09 Feb 2013, 19:46
by RoganJosh
Is that your camera you linked me to? It's a very pretty piece of work.

It looks like a good slider but I have very basic tools and very poor woodworking skills hence why i'm looking for something that is somewhat pre-made.

Re: Monorail Slider

Posted: 10 Feb 2013, 08:20
by Maris
The link is to someone else's Bender but mine looked just like it. Getting the sliders right is important especially if it is a push-pull and lock system rather than a rack and pinion mechanism. With the right balance between friction and stiction focussing within a fraction of a millimetre is easy with finger pressure alone.