Adjustable 2020 PTFE Slider

thingiverse

I wanted to create a slider you can print that works on nearly all types of 20x20 aluminum profiles. It uses 4mm PTFE bowden tubing as the material in contact with the aluminum profile, making contact in eight places (four on each end). The screws at the ends adjust the pressure of the bowden tubes against the profile by using ramps. You have to adjust the screws to find a balance between a wiggle-free slider and friction. The design requires pieces of bowden tubing of equal length and benefits from a tube with a V-cutout at the end. I included a part for trimming the tube using a sharp tool, such as a wood chisel. To ensure the part in the core doesn't move compared to the outer part, I used some bowden tubing mounted in grooves. This isn't necessary for the entire length, just some in the back and some in the front. I might use this design for a z-axis as it may have too much friction for an x or y-axis. Also, it should help shed weight when using it as an x- or y-axis. It needs only a little bit of hardware to assemble. Here are the parts I used: 4x 6mm M3 screws, 4x M3 brass inserts, 2x 30mm M3 screws, 2x M3 nuts, and around half a meter of 4mm bowden tubing. You can see how it's made in this video: https://youtu.be/Ip-m8CrN1Gghttps://youtu.be/_uY8gKPPfKs Printer Settings: * Printer: Prusa i3 MK2 * Rafts: No * Supports: No * Resolution: 0.25mm Notes: I printed it in ABS plastic. I scaled my model up to 1.02 times the original size. In retrospect, I would not have scaled up the inner part; only the outside. I didn't use infill but used a 2mm wall thickness. Post-Printing: I sanded down the inner part so it would fit better and slide easier inside the other part. If I hadn't printed it at 1.02 scale, that might not have been necessary.