I work in a metal fabrication shop and am looking into cheap, open-source options for building linear rail welders. The seams I am looking to automate are 5' in length and one solid bead. Because v-slot only comes in 1500 mm max lengths, I'm looking at using 2 x 1000 mm lengths of 60 mm. Does anyone have experience with joining such long lengths? What is the strength of the joints like? Thanks
You could make the joints very strong but 20mm thick profile at anything over 1500 will be very flexible. Id be looking to use mild steel over that length with either hiwin carriages and square rail or cheaper option you could just weld on some v rail.
The strength of your joints will be whatever the strength of your backer is. Butt joints have no inherent strength. And while you could join the two sections with double tee nuts, I don't know as I'd trust them for your specific application. With a piece of 3x2x1/8 aluminum tubing as a backer you should have no difficulty keeping the alignment straight. You might also give some thought as to dealing with the heat generated in the process and its impact on plastic wheels. The steel wheels and rail configurations discussed here might be worth consideration.
