Bearings vs. Bushings in Gearboxes + All-Belt Gearbox?

[Colin Small]

Originally Posted by Joey Milia

Ah ok. You're understanding them correctly but I don't think that would be best, assuming you're using aluminum or plastic pulleys. I've already mentioned aluminum is a horrible bearing material and it would be much better to have the shaft steel than the pulley. Having the bushing rotate on the shaft would also mean lower surface speeds, less wear and less friction and be stiffer.

That makes sense. I'll play around with the width of the pulleys/belts and find something that works.

Just curious, what width belt would you recommend? Right now I'm running 6mm wide 3mm GT2 throughout the build, although I might make the latter stages 5mm as you said earlier.

http://imgur.com/8gzwYMM

There's plenty of space right now, so I don't see any reason not to run wider pulleys.

Thanks for the help!

Edit: Do you think it's possible to get away with running 3mm GT3 belts? 5mm increases the size to a point that I'm not very happy with.