LM Rail

[GTJim]

Other manufacturers are dimensionally compatible to THK, so does it have to be theirs?

Well I've got THK blocks and assumed that I would need thier rails, but if thats not the case all the better.

[Jonathan]

Well I've got THK blocks and assumed that I would need thier rails, but if thats not the case all the better.

Unfortunately not - each manufacturer's blocks will only work with their own rails. I meant that the hole layout and external dimensions are generally compatible.

[Jonathan]

thanks jon
just got to source some 20mm rail for the x then i can crack on.

What length do you need for X? I wouldn't worry about finding 20mm for your size machine and what you're cutting, 15mm will still be fine. You would get marginally better stiffness with larger rails, but I'd put money on other aspects of the machine contributing a greater error than the difference between 15mm and 20mm rails. There's no significant disadvantage to using bigger rails though, so if you do find some cheap then why not...

i was just looking at the korean chaps shop,i didnt get the option to bid or make offers,he must have knocked that on the head.

I meant just search on eBay (worldwide) in general. Rails long enough for Z and Y come up quite regularly, but you might struggle for X.