It's been awhile, but here is how I
solved the problem. After looking at A LOT of different set ups, i finally had some idea how my anchor rollers should be designed. I made it up using google's sketch up program (free download), & had it converted to a autocad file. sent it to a waterjet shop to cut the stainless and welded it up with the help of a friend. next came the electropolishing and mounting. all in all, i spent just under $400 start to finish and while there are a few tweaks to be made, they didn't come out half bad. Local shops wanted between $2500 and $4000 for a pair of custom rollers made from 3/16" stainless. These are 3/8" stainless plate.
Also had to build a new cransiron (sp?). it took some doing but I think we finally came up with something strong enough to anchor the rig and provide room to attach all kinds of goodies. Again we went to the waterjet shop and had them cut all the pieces. My wife designed the "N" in the cap and we had it waterjet cut from stainless as well. A good friend has access to a
bronze foundry. The stainless was heated redhot and then molten
bronze was poured into the "N". Once cooled we surfaced the piece and polished it. A little welding, a little electropolishing, and voila - our new cransiron! Materials, cutting, welding, and polishing cost significantly less than hiring a shop to do it all. True it cost us time, but in the end we got exactly what we wanted, and saved a bunch of $$$.
I can't recommend
water jet cutting enough if you have a
project involving machining stainless. It was so easy to have the
parts cut exactly clamp them together, and weld them up. It saved so much time, and was actually pretty inexpensive!
If you're interested following are the shops we used for these projects.
H2o Precision in Hayward, Ca - waterjet cutting
Scientific Plating in Oakland, Ca - electropolishing
Bongiorno Fabrication in Berkeley, Ca - welding, machining, design assistance.
Feel free to send a pm if you want their contact info.