Slightly used slats

Yeah im not changing these till i see problems…I just grind any thing off that sticks up past the top of the slat.

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Looks like you’re getting some use out of the table. lol

If you take them out and whack it with a hammer most of that will actually fall right off with no effort…

Some of that slag may be the only thing holding them together :grin:

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Has anyone got a price on some new slats? I have 1 more flipping left in mine.

LOL! I was looking at mine yesterday wondering when I’d need new ones. But they’re nothing like this set :smile:

I figure when the time comes I’ll just get my metal guys to shear them or cut them out on the table. I figure if I make a fixed jig against the side I can cut half of them out and then slide the steel down against the jig edge and rerun the job to cut the other half.

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Do you know off the top of your head the gauge of the metal? (slats)

Not sure why they’re sheared to be honest. They’re 2”.

It would be cheaper to buy 2” 11 or 14g flat stock by the time you paid someone’s labor to shear them.

11ga I think from measuring mine.

True enough. Then simple enough to just cut them to length. But we have a computer controlled CNC plasma machine…we must use the technology we have :smile:

(helps justify the garage toy to the wife : :grin:)

Ok thanks its freezing rain out and I didnt want to fall and break my arse.

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Unfortunately the crossfire can’t cut the slats for itself unless you extended it :man_shrugging:

Sure you can. If you’re not talking about just cutting flat stock to length but you want to cut slats out of a sheet of steel, you just need to be able to cut a rectangle longer than the Y axis.

To do that, take a sheet of steel 36" long (for instance). Place a piece of flat 1 or 2" stock against the left edge of the water table. Clamp the front and rear ends to the table so it won’t move. That gives you a fixed edge where the material will slide along but not move in the X direction.

Create 2 files to do your slats. Each a bit longer than 1/2 the length of the slat. You can probably fit 10 across. One file is effectively a series of very tall U shapes. The other file is the same but with the Us mirrored (flipped) so they’re more of an “n” with the cross cut of the end at the top. You have to mirror/flip the design - do not redraw it. This keeps both in exactly the same position.

Now set your 0.0 point on the CNC in the lower left corner. Give yourself a bit of room on the bottom so you’re not cutting right against the lower edge of the sheet of steel.

Load the U file and cut. You’ll have 10 long pieces with the front ends and the sides cut out but not the far end so they’re not coming free of the sheet.

Now load the “n” file and slide the sheet forward over the edge of the water table - support it with an extension support like you use for table saws and such. Bring it down until the top of your cut is nearly to the 0,0 point. That will let your top halves cut and the edges of the cuts will line up with the edges of the first set of cuts. With the spacer on the side, you’ll not have to worry about getting things out of alignment so the new cuts don’t line up.

It’s a pretty standard method of indexing long parts for CNC cutting.

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Seems like a lot less work to buy flat stock and cut it to 10 pieces.

Definitely. But it’s also doable with sheet goods :slight_smile:

I’d go with the flat stock if I can find the right size of 11ga. Then I just need to cut them to length. That’s a cakewalk with the plasma.

I keep my slats clean. Haven’t even flipped them upside down yet and I been cutting about 6hrs a week on it. heavy and thin stuff, mostly 3/16. You could pretty easily add another center support on the table and stagger the slats slightly so your slat is now half the size of the ones now. You should then be able to cut on your own table. maybe I’ll draw up a diagram to explain it.