IGUS polymer bearings for carbon fiber tubes

Hi,
Do you know, if it's a good idea to use IGUS drylin bearings with carbon fiber tubes? I am not sure, if those polymer bearings are softer or harder than the CF tubes.
These are the ones I am talking about: [www.amazon.com]

If they are harder than CF, then tubes will be damaged.. Is there another cheap alternative?
Igus Plain Bush JSM-1012-10 which are made for CF tubes, cost a fortune. I would gladly buy a clone from China, but I can't find anything like it.

Make your own bearings with Igus filament, fit for your need ! I made all kind even nuts for lead screws.
Bushings are ALWAYS softer than the rod, rail whatever they ride on. They rely on lubricant ,low coef of friction compound.... Refer to Igus doc for how it works in their products
The question is what kind of carbon fiber rod ? The carbon fibers are usually not on the surface but embedded in some kind of resin. The bearings will ride on it.
Anodized Al rods are an alternative when weigh is important.
Indeed the chinese don't seem to have stolen the design yet. Can't steal everything, it takes time.

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"A comical prototype doesn't mean a dumb idea is possible" (Thunderf00t)

How do you make your own bearings?
Carbon fiber tubes that I am referring to are made from 3K Pure Carbon Fiber
something like this: [www.aliexpress.com]

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/02/2019 02:23AM by jjfawkes.

These tubes are not designed to be used as guides and therefore you have to try and see.
To make the bearings, you need Igus filament, follow their instruction regarding T° etc. You can just adapt/resize the Igus standard bearings.They give stl samples files.
No need to waste time trying fancy profiles like spiral, lips ... as found on Thingiverse for ex. . These are jokes.

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"A comical prototype doesn't mean a dumb idea is possible" (Thunderf00t)

To make it cheaper than IGUS filament check PTFE bearings on Thingiverse or you may design your own PTFE bearings if buying none standard CF tubes.

Quote
piper3d
To make it cheaper than IGUS filament check PTFE bearings on Thingiverse or you may design your own PTFE bearings if buying none standard CF tubes.

Unless you prove they work fine for long enough, I consider these "bearings" using PTFE 4mm tubes as jokes, plain and simple ! As they are forgotten quickly, they get reinvented regularly.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/02/2019 04:11AM by MKSA.

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"A comical prototype doesn't mean a dumb idea is possible" (Thunderf00t)

Ok, thanks everyone, I will try making my own bearings

Tech2c (the guy who made the original Hypercube) uses Iglidur J bushings on matte carbon fiber tubes and it seems to work well, so do a lot other people and Igus sells carbon fiber tubes just for them.

Igus bearings aren't anything special, they're just hard plastic that rubs off on rails like PTFE and it also looks a lot like PTFE in microscope images, when I thought about this my guess was that they were a mix of PEEK and PTFE (which you order as a powder and can mix it with any material, in fact you could make ABS filament with PTFE powder added in) or some other fluorinated plastic. Since carbon fiber is abrasive this should help spread the igus polymer mix over the shaft, but there will be a lot of play because the carbon fiber tube diameters isn't exact. The way igus bushings works is only really evident when you put a lot of weight on them vs doing the same thing on a LM8UU.

I've ordered some plain PTFE bushings in the past and they work well, but get dirt inside very easily.

Something that I think would work is ordering a free sample of filament from IGUS and, instead of printing bushings, using them as inserts in the same way the ptfe tube bearings are constructed.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/03/2019 08:17AM by ruyvieira.

A few years later to whoever it might concern - I'm starting to go on that route as bambu labs seems to be using the same principal. I would not go with "3d carbon" as it has glossy finish which is achieved by having resin surface. Resin on it's own is not strong and is more as esthetic look. I would assume it wears off and makes your rod work more as a file as it gets down to that 3d carbon texture. Matte looking rods should be the way to go. CNCkitchen seems to also point out that these might be igus or clone rods, but does not elaborate on bearings. I will go down the road to get the rods from ali and get the igus filament for bushings. It's a bit expensive, but you can get alot of bearings out of that small 750g roll.