PVC Rollers?

[Tom Line]

We've used pvc rollers for several years now. You can buy plastic tubing from mcmaster to cut and put over the pvc to act as guides that are pretty much a perfect fit. Superglue in place.

The biggest difference I noticed this year for teams that used round belting was tension. If you put a LOT of tension on the round pvc belts, they don't deflect nearly as much and will track very straight. Of course, you'll want bearings and not bushings on your rollers to minimize friction if you're going this route.

Our shafts are all mounted in a slot and terminate in small block of aluminum, and we use a bolt to push on the block of aluminum to tension them. (Call it a jack screw if you'd like). That allows us to account for any variability in our manufacturing, because we don't have CNC ability and everything is fabbed by hand, so nothing ever comes out perfectly straight.