Toyo D45M monorail details please!

[petrochemist]

I've recently got hold of most of the parts of an old D45M, which I'd like to put to use.

Unfortunately it seems the later monorails are a completely different design, and I've not seen any being sold (and few enough at reasonable prices for ANY large format monorails) so I plan on doing a bit of DIY....

To simplify matters does any one have a rail they can provide dimensions / pictures off?
The gear rack is of particular interest, better still would be the racks technical designation, (I'd guess around 32DP imperial or 0.75MOD metric??) This will allow me to order a pre-machined rack

I should be able to judge the diameter well enough from the standards. :)

Many thanks

Mike

[B.S.Kumar]

I'm not in Japan at the moment, so I can't help you. But there is a regular 14" rail (item no. 140705479445) and an extension rail (item no. 140705483561) from the same seller on e-bay. The prices are reasonable, so you might want to check with him about shipping costs. No connection with the seller, of course.

The Toyo D45M is an excellent camera. I have the last black model.

Best,
Kumar

[petrochemist]

I'm not in Japan at the moment, so I can't help you. But there is a regular 14" rail (item no. 140705479445) and an extension rail (item no. 140705483561) from the same seller on e-bay. The prices are reasonable, so you might want to check with him about shipping costs. No connection with the seller, of course.

The Toyo D45M is an excellent camera. I have the last black model.

Best,
Kumar

Thanks Kumar -
Postage is more than the cost of the bits, even without the possibility of Customs duties (20% of total including postage for VAT + possibly other import duty + a hefty couriers handling fee...) which has ruined other apparent imported bargains in the past.

I'm afraid that puts them out of my current budget, for something that should be easy to make.
Pre-made gear rails start under £5 for a 400mm length & my lathe should be able to get the beam right with a bit of care.

The extension listing gives me a useful reference photo of the gear rail anyway.
Accurate measurements on the raising gear rack (16 teeth to the inch = 48DP) & of other parts suggest dimensions are imperial not metric.
If the monorail uses the same rack as the standards (smaller than I thought at a quick glance) then I might get away with a very cheap MOD50 rack which is very close to 48DP.

Mind you after I've made my own I may well find myself wishing I'd jumped for the e-bay job!

Mike

[B.S.Kumar]

Shipping and import costs are usually the deal-breakers :(

Do you have the standards? They have the gear arrangement built in. It may be possible to take measurements and go on from there. Have you looked around in the UK or Europe? The UK large format group is quite active, and you may be able to find or borrow the rail.

Kumar

[petrochemist]

Yes, got the standards - they seem beautifully engineered and were what attracted me to the project!
The pinion is highly recessed , with no access for calipers etc & difficult to see. It looks to have 16 teeth but without the accurate measurement of the diameter that's not a lot of help. The beam diameter can presumably be measured from these anyway 1 1/8" if I'm not mistaken.
It's good to here the UK scene is active, as a complete newbie I've not joined there yet (I will probably get that done today!)

[petrochemist]

Nevermind I've managed to get a cheap set through e-bay (despite e-bay cancelling the transaction after I'd paid!!!)

£21 for both standard & extension racks means it's not worth the effort of making them :)