Custom racks

If for many years the racks have been relegated to being a marginal product, since the automation industry began to impose itself heavily, they have returned to be a very interesting accessory, which has seen considerable developments both in terms of profile and teeth.

The materials have also helped in the creation of new types of custom racks and our company offers its experience in the field of toothed elements for mechanical traction, creating different types of pre-built and designed components.

What are the racks’ functions

One of the fundamental steps in mechanical construction is the conversion of circular motion into a straight or curvilinear limit. This can be done using mainly two systems: the cams a bit like in the old steam trains, although, in reality, the conversion is from linear to circular, or the racks.

These are toothed elements with an arbitrary section, which is usually rectangular, square, flat, or circular, with one or more levels of teeth on the surfaces.

Custom-made racks are usually made with a single line of homogeneous teeth, which can be straight or helical, but there are projects where this type of device is used to convert the circular movement into and out with different teeth, even on non-parallel planes.

Our company produces from the live block in steel and special alloys any type of rack, with degrees of precision ranging from 6 to 10 and the possibility of modifying the design in different ways.

Racks are typically used to move horizontal planes, such as in numerically controlled machines for positioning, using stepper motors or moving large surfaces, such as gates, grilles or arms, with good reliability, even concerning relatively fast cycles.
Usually, the rack is used for limited numbers of movements per minute, but there may be projects where they represent a more compact and interesting alternative compared to other decidedly more expensive solutions.

Our racks are rigorously cut from full bars. There are no forging processes, i.e. casting, because they would require enormously higher costs for marginal results and even printing, because of this technology’s limitation, we do not make sintered racks.
The best solution always remains the milling from a steel block using cold machines, with constant lubrication at high pressure and medium viscosity, for the removal of incandescent elements and scrap.

We offer you different types of additional processing, in addition to the basic preparation of the rack that you can choose up to the maximum length of 6000 mm, with the guarantee that our technical staff and machinery will limit the deviation from the straight, keeping it within the narrowest possible error range.

With us you can make adjustments and operations after cutting, to improve the transmission characteristic of the customised rack.

Research and evolution in the mechanical sector

Years of activity in this sector allow us to create device models that can move large weights with minimal possible emission of drag, clutch and kick noise.

This element is not only important from the point of view of the environment of insertion but also for the quality of life of the mechanism. Noise is a symptom of the presence of vibrations and the stronger this is, the greater the risk of moving from the linear transmission zone of the oscillation to the non-linear one.

Here, for multiplication phenomena, you can have resonance peaks, linked to the geometric conformations of the entire machinery, which for example can produce breaks on slots, detach pins and unscrew screws and bolts, even if tightened with a lot of force.

Our staff developing any custom rack design will carry out a series of checks, directly through the design software, to check that there are no risks of this type and possibly propose a series of solutions for more or less invasive changes to your project, to completely eliminate the danger.

With us you can be sure of tailor-made racks, made with great precision, absolutely respecting the plate characteristics of the steel alloy used, robust and reliable teeth with the support surface suitably machined, also through annealing, tempering and attack in a reducing environment and a steam phase, to eliminate any risk of breakage.

We can also perform galvanised baths to order, for example, if your massive rack needs to be mounted in an aggressive environment, such as a passageway on a road for a gate exposed to the weather.

Our production capabilities are based on long experience but above all on our ability to deal with most of the production steps, in some cases all directly within our plant, without the need to delegate the rework to other companies.

So we can guarantee you not only the best quote but also the most reliable one. Our stock of starting steel bars is always very well supplied and a simple inquiry is enough to check our availability.

In addition, if there is not everything needed in the warehouse, we could rely on trusted suppliers who will bring the levels back to full capacity within a few days, allowing us to start mass production.

With us, you can create fully customised racks from every point of view, for a single piece, for example, for a repair of a gate or an actuator in your factory, and large batches with delivery times reduced to a minimum and sample tests.

In addition to controlling all the processes of the production of the customised rack report, our technicians also deal with the tests on the single piece or sample, based on the production volume and the control of the characteristics that must scrupulously comply with our standards and yours to guarantee both companies the best profit.
For each type of project, a sketch may be enough for us, but we can also work from your complete CAD project file, which we will always keep updated with a shared folder, to allow you to become aware of any changes that need to be made, for example, if there is no compatibility between your design, small details and the possibilities of technology can be crucial.

We are very interested in the possibility of creating long-term collaborative relationships. This is why our technicians and engineers are always at your disposal for exchanges of information, specific requests and project insights.

We may provide you with any editing files that are compatible with your standards to assist you in using the simulations. For custom-made racks, you can request different types of profiles, from the most common one, i.e. the rectangular section, to square, round and flat versions, for different types of processing.

We are equipped for straight teeth, that is, with all parallel ridges, or helical, in case there is a need for quieter functionality and a greater starting pressure.

In addition, the racks can be made in full weld, with a pre-drilled profile, or by opening holes in the positions you prefer, to adapt them to a specific project starting from the single model, half or full custom, if you prefer to work with a rack tailored only in detail.
You can also have different types available, so you can make both your consumer products at a lower cost and those pros with better specifications and details, such as lower noise, an optimised starting pressure or surface treatment for specific environments.

Our metal alloys and machining allow us to produce racks suitable also for the insertion of machinery destined to be in zones 1 and 2 of the petrochemical plants, with the total absence of the risk of spark.

We provide you with an optimised finish that maintains its absolute stability even in a highly aggressive, reducing or oxidising environment and even by immersion, so you can use them as actuators directly in chemical reactors. For any kind of question, all you need to do is call us and ask us the specifications.

At the service of your customised racks

If your company needs a single fully customised rack, or you want to put your model on the market, all you need to do is contact us by email or phone.

Our representatives will arrange a face-to-face or virtual appointment for you to establish methods and types, evaluate the projects and make the necessary changes for the best result.

We offer you reliable and exact quotes, based on a stable and reliable supply chain, but above all a direct relationship between our technical staff of the design office and workshops and yours.

This is to ensure that every single detail is made exactly as you wish and offer you an extremely affordable and competitive investment compared to market standards and ordinary components.