Allan Waterfall's Rack

[GRH]

Firstly in the UK do you not have a cheap source for gears and racks like we have here in th US ( Boston Gear) ???????
The one thing I don't understand is when you finished the rack and unclamped it to mill it to finish width (3/8") how did you stop it from bending like a banana due to all the metal removal from the teeth cutting, or did you mill both sides before you started to cut the rack teeth???? to even out the stresses.

Graeme

[Allan Waterfall]

Graeme.....

I think the rack and gear are available from "Blackgates" but I decided to roll my own as I wanted it a bit longer than the bought one,

Yes the rack was a bit banana shape after I'd cut it to size with a slitting saw,but some gentle persuasion and some scrap ali packing bits in the machine vice soon had it pressed into acceptable straightness.

The rack and pinion have been fitted and work well together,so I guess it was mission accomplished.

Allan