Easy Print Bearing

thingiverse

This bearing features truncated elliptical rollers as opposed to balls for ease of printing in one piece without needing to separate bearings. It is designed to effortlessly come off the build platform without requiring cleanup, making it ideal for new OpenSCAD learners like the creator who made it in preparation for their printer's arrival. The maker doesn't have their printer yet and seeks feedback on its printing performance. Update 1.1 (FIX) includes roller ends at the same z-level as ring edges due to a scaling fix, while the width is changed to 21mm for tighter roller packing. Update 2.0 features a new crowned roller profile to prevent x and y rotation of rollers, addressing potential issues with previous versions. Update 2.1 includes larger rollers to minimize play and increase roller packing density while retaining the same profile as version 2.0. The design aims for one-piece printing without complications, but possible challenges include: rollers breaking free from the platform during printing, inadequate gap between rollers and inner/outer rings, adjusting print position to avoid below-platform areas with negative z values, preventing inner ring or roller fallout, and ensuring optimal geometry for high-quality prints. The attached OpenSCAD file allows users to make changes or fix errors, with the outer radius determining ring sizes and thickness influencing roller size. However, the number of rollers must be adjusted manually if the outer radius to thickness ratio changes. A SketchUp file is also provided for visualizing the roller/channel shape.