Linear Recirculating Ball Bearing

thingiverse

This recirculating ball bearing employs 3/16 inch bearing balls and is engineered to operate smoothly on 1" ID PVC schedule 40 pipe with an outside diameter of 1.315 inches. The parts are secured together using #8 bolts, with three bolts positioned horizontally to allow for the adjustment of clamping pressure on the pipe. Two countersink bolts on each side are used to hold the stack of four parts (parts one through four) firmly onto the main body of the bearing (part five). I had not seen any recirculating ball bearings specifically designed for PVC pipe on this site before, which was a major factor in my decision to use PVC as the rail material. The primary reason for selecting PVC was its cost-effectiveness, as I needed approximately 130 feet of rail and PVC proved to be more budget-friendly than conduit. However, this design can easily be modified to work with steel conduit if desired. The bearing allows the PVC to be mounted flat onto a surface because it does not completely encircle the pipe. This unique feature makes it an ideal choice for applications where a smooth, flat surface is required. A video demonstrating a CNC controlled positioning tool utilizing these bearings can be found at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNWGr0d5u3Y This machine utilizes six of these bearings, with two on the X-axis and two on each side of the Y-axis. All three-dimensional printed parts, including the bearings, were 3D printed using a Prusa i3 MK3.