Any ideas on the best use of this????

[Ross77]

Hello All

So I need another project like a hole in the head at the moment but I just had to buy this stairlift from the scrapyard for £25.

Originally I only wanted it for the 4m Ali beam, how ever it has rack and pinion drive and a heafty 24V motor with reduction gearbox built in (bit of backlash). The top part of the beam acts as the linear guide and has rubber wheel bearing arrangement which is obviously designed for a smooth ride.



Has any one else use a stair lift for CNC? my initial thought was to use it for a cnc tube bender as the bearings wouldnt have to be to too critial and the backlash in the gearbox wouldnt be a problem as it only pushes one direction

the problem is that it seems way over kill for that and I cant help but think there is a better use

The rack is in two pieces and has a tooth pitch of 10mm, the shortest is 1.8m so I could use it for a dual x axis driven from that motor but through a 100:1 precison planetry gear box that I also have kicking around:whistling:

[irving2008]

No idea, but i have one of those going spare removed from my late father's flat. Unless its a Stannah you cant sell them (mines a Brooks) and they go for peanuts on eBay.... I haven't found an obvious use for it... (I was thinking motorised car jack thingy, but don't think its strong enough)

[John S]

A slight aside to this.
I just bought a display cabinet off Ebay, similar to the ons you see in big departmental stores. L shaped 30" high at the front counter bit with a 5' display unit at the end. Paid £50 for it.

Doesn't sound impressive until I tell you it was made from 45 x 45 alloy extrusion with all the corners, brackets bolts etc needed to hold it together.

I wonder what it would have fetched if it had been listed as Alloy extrusion suitable for a router ?

.

[irving2008]

No idea, but i have one of those going spare removed from my late father's flat. Unless its a Stannah you cant sell them (mines a Brooks) and they go for peanuts on eBay.... I haven't found an obvious use for it... (I was thinking motorised car jack thingy, but don't think its strong enough)

Well finally got round to removing it form the flat yesterday... in doing so I liberated:
14 feet of Ali beam - now cut into 2 equal lengths - once tidied wil make two 6.5ft of 150mm x 100mm W-shaped extrusion -side beams for something
8ft and 6ft rack sections
good selection of m10 and m12 bolts and nuts
24v battery pack and charger
motor and gear box, poss use for powered feed?
six 40mm dia x 30mm long 10mm bore nylon rollers and other nylon/ptfe blocks
2 aluminium castings/side plates about 4kg - will melt down i reckon
4 roller operated push switches - good for limit switches
2 microswitches (cover interlocks)
two charging plates used for recharging when the chair was docked, liberated 4 x 150mm x 10mm x 3mm brass strip, good for new gib strips for lathe
LEDs, piezo beeper, motor controller PCB

Not bad for 30min work (and 20 of that was with the hacksaw...)

[routercnc]

Hi Ross,

Bit wacky, but I was looking at the back lawn the other day thinking - wonder if I could make CNC lawn mower with rails along the edges moving a mower around. Any good? A bit of backlash wouldn't matter.

Didn't get Wife approval so maybe not . . .

[Ross77]

I haven't found an obvious use for it...

Not just me then, I think the problem for me is getting the linear rails long enough to make use of the rack.

I just bought a display cabinet off Ebay, similar to the ons you see in big departmental stores. L shaped 30" high at the front counter bit with a 5' display unit at the end. Paid £50 for it.

Doesn't sound impressive until I tell you it was made from 45 x 45 alloy extrusion with all the corners, brackets bolts etc needed to hold it together.

Luck bar steward, thats alot more useful then my find...oh well

Bit wacky, but I was looking at the back lawn the other day thinking - wonder if I could make CNC lawn mower with rails along the edges moving a mower around

Your a genius.. CNC lawn art, you will make a fortune. (P.S what medication are you on?:heehee:)

[John S]

Luck bar steward, thats alot more useful then my find...oh well

Yes but you all now know what to look for, I only spotted it by accident when I was looking at a sellers other items.

Funny thing is he was really apologetic that the glass panels were missing, hadn't the heart to tell him I'd probably only smash them up anyway.

[Ross77]

John
Have you taken it apart yet? I bought a small table that was made from 25 x 25mm extruded section but it was the 'Light' version still useable but not what I had hoped for.


So over engineered tube bender it is then......

[i2i]

electric gate