Parametric Thrust Bearing Retention Ring (works with Airsoft pellets)

prusaprinters

<p>This .scad will generate a ball bearing retention ring of any size you want with any number of balls! I created it to work with Airsoft pellets (BBs) but it will work with any ball or sphere shaped object.</p> <p>The idea is to use this in a "race" (track above and below balls being held by the retention ring) or as a spacer inside of a regular bearing. What's nice about that second function is that you can now make<em>really great bearings</em> of just about any size by merely modeling the top and bottom rings in such a way as to snap together (or glue together).</p> <p> <figure class="media"> <oembed url="https://youtu.be/j6dzyoloH88"></oembed> </figure> </p> <p>See it in action in my (forthcoming) Universal Hangable Auto-Rewind Spool Holder: <a href="https://youtu.be/Bc92DEOSwZQ">https://youtu.be/Bc92DEOSwZQ</a></p> <p><strong>EDIT:</strong> Updated the .scad with lots of comments, a version string, and a changelog. Other than that it's the same. Also renamed the Thing to indicate this is for thrust bearings (not roller/ball aka skate-style bearings).</p> <p><strong>EDIT 2:</strong> Added an example of a thrust bearing that would use one of these retention rings.</p> <h3>Print instructions</h3><p>I printed the example at .3mm layer height using a 0.6mm nozzle but just about any layer height/nozzle will do as long as it fits within your specified parameters! Doesn't have to be smooth layers! It should work fine even with a garbage 3D printer =)</p>