3018 CNC Z Axis Bearing Lock

thingiverse

Having trouble with your desktop CNC? Having trouble was I. Part of the problem was that the holes for the linear bearings of my Z axis were just a bit too big. So my press-in bearings didn't stay put. Replacing them with better quality bearings, but they still slid out at the slightest vibration. A quick fix was needed so a set of "locks" was thrown together to hold them in place. These just snapped on. Nothing had to be taken apart. Two downsides were there to using this. 1. Travel in your Z axis was lost - eight millimeters worth. That's a huge loss, but this was just a temporary fix. 2. The loose tolerance in the plastic carriers meant that printing and adjusting a couple of times might be needed to get them to fit properly. Or you could measure yours and adjust accordingly. The "snap" function was very tight; a couple were broken putting them on. That being said, they worked wonderfully. No more play in my Z axis and ruined jobs because there's suddenly no bearings in the carrier.