Build Plate Bearing Mod for TAZ 5

thingiverse

In the process of replicating a **TAZ** clone, you come to realize how much of the original design was left up in the air. That's not knocking the fine folks at **Lulzbot**, who've been awesome throughout our years using their printers. However, a simple solution that works for one team can be a mind-numbing exercise in drudgery for another. Case in point: the linear bearings are supposed to slide smoothly into these little holders with just a bit of bending and squeezing. I suppose the problem is **Lulzbot**'s bearings are nylon bushings, whereas ours are metal. In short, there was no way to put those bearings in those holders without the holder shattering. We tried every possible means of sliding, popping, pushing, or squeezing that little cylinder into that little cradle. Four broken holders later and I knew it was time for a better solution (or at least one that would work until we figure out something better). Here is a link to the **TAZ 5**'s source files. All I did was bring it into **Tinkercad**, cut out a 2mm thin section of the middle, and cloned the bottom half for the pair file. They'll still hold the bearing, but now there's a gap in the middle that lets you slide on the halves with no forcing required. UPDATE: Well, I've tried re-uploading these photos at least twice and somehow, something somewhere in the software pipeline needs 90-degree angles explained to it, and I lack the dry-erase board and cross-eyed sock puppet to do so. I guess I'll settle for my before and after pics looking like Art Deco-styled propaganda posters.