Caged Ball Bearing

thingiverse

This is a basic ball bearing that combines a single cage unit along with 16 spheres all enclosed in one unit. Its special design features elliptical grooves that significantly reduce resistance to motion when the moving components are released and facilitate some axial rotation. The recommended printing parameters for this model include layer heights of between 0.2mm-0.27mm, with an estimated printing speed of around 60mm/sec. Some printed ball bearings show imperfections in the spheres themselves but can still rotate without any notable play when fully assembled. When you initially start to break the assembly free work it in an up-and-down motion, continue until there is no more resistance to turning and the entire system has been loosened enough to begin with disassembling individual components such as cages which then should be similarly handled to further release the internal spheres completely. Applying some silicon lubricant into the center of your bearings will improve their functionality quite a lot, providing for a smooth motion with practically zero radial looseness.