chevymom53

can you tell me what the metal rods are called that you brought or take a picture. I have looked forever for these.

Tweety2911

I have a Grace frame also and want to get steel rods. We can't locate a place to purchase them and the shipping rate is ridiculously expensive.

sewplease

The Yahoo group called GraceMachine Frame has had a lot of discussion on the rods. They recommend 1/4" stainless steel welding rods available from machine and welding shops, where they will apparently cut them to size.

Debbie B

We bought 1/4" diameter rods steel rods. I don't know if there was a specific name for them. For my Little Gracie II frame they had to be 99 1/2" long to fit into the hole where the track goes into the wooden side of the frame. It's been over a year since I did this & I've quilted at least 6-7 quilts, plus a few wall hangings & table topper/runners with no problems. Find a metal shop or metal cutting shop in your area, and go talk with them.

Debbie B

Here's a picture. Notice how we put the rod into the hole that the track goes into on the frame. We put it exactly as the original plastic tracks laid. If you lay the rods to just the edge of the side without going into that hole then the weight of the carriage may cause the rods to move as you move the carriage.
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RebeccaG

I know this is an old post, but for any one searching I thought I would add what I am doing. I have the grace frame and it has the wooden tracks. I did go to a machine shop that cut the 1/4 inch steel rods for me. There are two kinds of steel heat rolled and cold rolled. I purchased the cold rolled steel and it is a lot more expensive than what others have posted they purchased theirs for. It ended up costing me $30 for 2 rods for the track and 2 for the carriage.
They fit my carriage fine. But my wooden track the 1/4 in rods slide to deep down. I will purchase some type of cord, nylon rope or something to set below the rod. That way my carriage wheels will not hit the wooden track.

JoyousQuilter

RebeccaG: Did you end up having to make other adjustments? Did you have to take the frame apart to fit the rods into the holes? Thanks for considering an update to your post. I'm looking at doing this as my carriage keeps jumping off the plastic tracks.

mike'sgirl

I'm interested too. This will be my next improvement to my original little Gracie frame. I haven't had any problem with my plastic track get, but I anticipate that i will eventually.

Snooze2978

I started out with their Grace Pro frame and changed out the tracks with a "t' shape metal track. Worked like a charm for me. Also added conduit over the aluminum poles to keep them from bowing on me. You can drill a hole into the conduit to place a screw into the original poles to keep them from turning on you. Had that frame for quite some time till I upgraded with the present machine system.

Debbie B

Can't you post a picture of the conduits on the poles? I would love to see it. Thanks.