Lulzbot Taz Pro THK Bearing Upgrade for Improved Print Quality, Improved Motion, Less Backlash, Less Friction, and Less Load on Motors

thingiverse

Hi. No warranties expressed or implied. Not supported or affiliated with Lulzbot in any capacity. Anything here is provided AS-IS and you assume all risk by anything you chose to do with this information. Modifications of this nature would certainly void your warranty. Parts required: - 4 x THK LM10UU (for Y-Axis) - 4 x THK LM10AJUU (for front of Z-Axis mounts) - 2 x THK LM10UU (for rear of Z-axis mounts) - 2 x THK LM12AJUU (for X Double Bearing Holder) - 1 x THK LM12UU (for X Carriage) - 4 x 10mm Hardened Chrome Linear Rods H8 Tolerance for Z-Axis (700mm for Taz Pro XT, or 405mm for Taz Pro) - 2 x 10mm Hardened Chrome Linear Rods H8 Tolerance for Y-Axis (500mm) - 2 x 12mm Hardened Chrome Linear Rods H8 Tolerance for X-Axis (540mm) Tight print tolerances required. This upgrade works for me, and was printed on a machine with extremely tight tolerances, with a very good slicer. I used extremely good PC-CF filament to print mine. If you have fitment problems, that's an issue with your reproduction, and I'm not going to take requests for 'oh, can you just make this 0.01mm smaller'? I made these for me, but I thought I'd share with the community. Sorry if it sounds rude, but that's not an invitation for me to become a support centre. **NO SUPPORT PROVIDED**. Please don't ask. Definitely not supported by me, and especially not supported by Lulzbot. Critical notes: 1. It is imperative that the adjustable bearings have their 'slit' facing the matching slit in the adjustable plastic part. For example, for the X-Motor and X-Idler mounts, you want the front bearings with their slit forward so when you look through the adjustable portion of the plastic parts included here, you can see through the inside of the adjustable bearing via the slit in the bearing. If you do not do this, the tensioner design of the plastic parts will not have adequate force to adjust the bearing clearance. 2. You will need to lubricate your bearings and rods, and keep them relatively lubricitous. There is a tradeoff here by swiching to linear bearings instead of DryLin bushings. If you're running your machine in a wood shop or extremely dusty environment, this upgrade might not be for you. If you can't handle a little drip of oil on your rods once and a while, and you must have absolutely 0 maintenance requirements, this upgrade isn't for you. Personally, I find the slight trade-offs listed there are nothing compared to the drastic gains all around, but you do you. Maybe I have different needs than you, but I prefer print quality and reliability and low friction and consistent movement over 'might have trouble running this in a wood-shop'. 3. Do not use a heavy grease for lubrication. You don't want something that's going to attract, and most importantly, HOLD, dirt in the lubrication. The bearings are sealed, but they're not impervious. Personally, I'm finding Super Lube Multi-Use Synthetic Oil with SynColon to be an excellent lubrication for these bearings. I am not sure what THK recommends. Super Lube I just referenced referenced is Part Number #51004. 4. Beware knock-off / counterfeit bearings. Buy the real ones. You can get real THK bearings direct from THK America, here: https://www.thkstore.com/ 5. Yes, you do need to replace your linear rails. The linear rails used by Lulzbot are not hard enough to handle real bearings, and will wear very quickly and make a mess of the whole situation. The rails are not particularly expensive. You can find rails at your typical online discount retailers, both "big" and "offshore". As long as their straight, and H8 tolerance, and not rusted, I think the quality here is less critical than is the case with the bearings themselves. 6. The Z-uppers are included because you need to remove the 'twist' Lulzbot put on them to hack around the reality that the Dual Extruder is too heavy for the gear ratio on the Z motors. If you run a dual extruder, you're gonna have to tighten the bearing clamps on Z far more than I think is probably best. That's not my fault, that's a blatant design problem with the Taz Pro. So if you don't like it, don't use it :) The Z-Uppers are modified to properly fit 2020 extrusion sourced from Spool3d.ca. If you're using different 2020 extrusion, do a test fit to make sure they fit properly and align properly without twisting or pulling the rails out of alignment top to bottom. Have a nice day.