Linear guide carriages interchangeable?

I have obtained an IKO lwl12b linear guide with no matched bearing block, and new blocks look very costly. Would another 12mm bearing block, from another brand of rail, work?

I doubt it there are so many variants, not even sure if all 12mm iko's are the same, I have 3 IKO's with 2 carriages on each, I'd get more travel with only 1 carriage so have thought about removing one maybe more 2 carriages overkill in some places but handy to have, how much do you want for the rail

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/29/2017 10:02PM by MechaBits.

Odds are stacked against you.

Even buying the same manufacturers block will have mixed results, as often the blocks are "match-fit" for the rail.
A few ten-tousandths of an inch can be the difference between binding and being too loose.

Different manufacturers also use different spacing, ball sizes, and groove configurations, so mixing manufacturers is not even worth trying IMHO.

MechaBits: I'm unfortunately not able to sell the rail. I might buy a carriage, though, if you're selling.

Yeah its a tough call, the extra ones where getting in the way a little but the parts I designed now need them. the carriages are RSR1 dont know if they would fit be interesting to see your rail.

Bearing carriages from a different manufacturer will not fit your rail. The linear rails all have different cross section profiles. RSR1 sounds like it is made by THK. I have a few THK RSR 9mm linear rails laying around. IKO sells replacement bearing carriages for your rail. If you are lucky you can find them in eBay. You need to make sure it is the exact same model number. There are some rails/bearings that are not interchangeable but those are usually very special versions. You can call up IKO to verify and check.

I'm using a pair of iko lwl15's for a laser build. LWL's are IKO's basic model, they make much higher quality ones too.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/2017 01:26AM by Jim Fong.

Having just bought 5 of the cheap rails I can say I'm very happy with them so now paying £30 quid say for a second hand IKO or other doesnt seem as attractive as it once was. I can get 2x 400mm of the cheap ones for £33 though pretty sure they will go up in price sometime soon.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/2017 07:03AM by MechaBits.

MechaBits: how much play do the rails have? How much force can they take before they get rough?

I cant tilt or alter position of carriage(other than motion its intended to do), it remains true, because there is some preload, its not so smooth till you add some weight then it feels much like the others, How long it will stay that way who knows but I think it'll be fine for some time, Black ones came with extra balls. Silver ones have strange score(line on back) but black ones dont.