Does anyone have experience 3D printing and assembling their own slew ring bearing such as this?
We have a Markforged Onyx One and can cheaply source bearing balls, so I was thinking printing the two pieces and assembling them. It appears the balls are the only things holding them together. We would be using this on a custom swerve drive, and a bearing similar to the one linked worked out well for us last year.
Our other option is machining a plate to attach the linked bearing.
You’re doing WHAT???
If you didn’t have that Onyx, I’d be telling you flat out that that was a bad idea. I’m not sure about WITH the Onyx, though. How well can it do smooth circles?
There is one other option, though, if you were interested. Print the adapter plate instead of machining it, and print the holes a touch on the small side so you can get something like this into it (the small holes are so you’ll have an easier time locking the knurls so the insert doesn’t spin/escape). I’ve seen that one done for heaver-duty stuff, can’t say for sure how well it’ll work for FRC.
You might be able to pull it off if you use hard wire for the races (where the balls will impart a point load). Something like this from Franke: http://www.franke-innovativ.com/3d-printed-bearings-less-material-less-weight/
It does remarkably smooth circles. I would not be considering it if we did not have Onyx.
Where would I source that kind of wire?
mcmaster
Of course haha. Why in the world did I not check there first?
Em… Might help if someone gave a part number. Most of what I see on McMaster is plain ABS/PLA, or PLA with material X which makes it more brittle than standard.
I’ve seen people do it. I forget where exactly. I’d try to use nylon or delring balls instead of ball bearings as they won’t dig into the plastic races as much under impact.
Instead of designing it like the bearing you’ve linked I’d design it like aball axial thrust bearing with a groove in the top and bottom. You will need some sort of element to prevent it from falling apart when the robots lifted or in edge cases but this could be done without any bearings as the Markforge nylon alone makes a decent bushing material (for the short life cycles we see in FRC).
If you keep your tolerances loose enough you should be fine. I for one definitely think it can be done, it will take lots of experimentation but that’s the advantage of 3d printing.
perhaps a cross roller bearings
These two ideas together might turn out to be pretty feasible.
One big benefit of the thrust bearing config is that it would be easy to assemble with the rollers in place.
