Mounting linear rails on plywood/acrylic/whatever? November 11, 2018 08:52PM |
Registered: 5 years ago Posts: 50 |
Re: Mounting linear rails on plywood/acrylic/whatever? November 11, 2018 09:11PM |
Admin Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 7,005 |
Re: Mounting linear rails on plywood/acrylic/whatever? November 11, 2018 11:30PM |
Registered: 8 years ago Posts: 5,232 |
Re: Mounting linear rails on plywood/acrylic/whatever? November 12, 2018 01:32AM |
Registered: 6 years ago Posts: 1,007 |
Quote
ruyvieira
I've done it before on aluminum extrusions and rolled aluminum plates which is a less than ideal solution, and it works. In the beginning there's a bit of resistance, but over time this resistance goes away as the balls wear down the rails. Now, how about other materials, like plywood and acrylic? Would I need something in between the linear rails and the sheet (e.g: a sheet of EPDM rubber) to account for the imperfections or can it be done with nothing in between?
Re: Mounting linear rails on plywood/acrylic/whatever? November 12, 2018 05:15AM |
Registered: 5 years ago Posts: 50 |
Quote
MKSA
Quote
ruyvieira
I've done it before on aluminum extrusions and rolled aluminum plates which is a less than ideal solution, and it works. In the beginning there's a bit of resistance, but over time this resistance goes away as the balls wear down the rails. Now, how about other materials, like plywood and acrylic? Would I need something in between the linear rails and the sheet (e.g: a sheet of EPDM rubber) to account for the imperfections or can it be done with nothing in between?
That is the great advantage of these cheap chinese rails made out of high strength heat treated chinesium (a mix of recycled lychees cans and crushed chicken bones).
To mount them on plywood, acrylic, I would suggest bubble gum. Cheap, readily available, elastic, has all the qualities required in this case.
Re: Mounting linear rails on plywood/acrylic/whatever? November 12, 2018 09:00AM |
Registered: 11 years ago Posts: 5,780 |
Re: Mounting linear rails on plywood/acrylic/whatever? November 12, 2018 10:56AM |
Admin Registered: 16 years ago Posts: 13,891 |
Re: Mounting linear rails on plywood/acrylic/whatever? November 12, 2018 12:13PM |
Registered: 5 years ago Posts: 50 |
Cheaper than flat milled metal plates and not as bad as MDFQuote
the_digital_dentist
Duct tape all the way. Or zip-ties.
Why on earth would anyone make something out of wood or acrylic and then try to put linear guides on it?
Good call, it costs almost the same as acrylic and I can mill it in my routerQuote
VDX
... I've made some of my micro-assembly stages from POM/Delrin and used mini linear guides with PZT motors ... was precise/accurate enough for accuracies below 1 micron (couldn't measure finer than 100 Nanometers )
Re: Mounting linear rails on plywood/acrylic/whatever? November 12, 2018 12:54PM |
Registered: 6 years ago Posts: 1,007 |
Re: Mounting linear rails on plywood/acrylic/whatever? November 12, 2018 01:07PM |
Admin Registered: 16 years ago Posts: 13,891 |
Re: Mounting linear rails on plywood/acrylic/whatever? November 12, 2018 03:38PM |
Registered: 6 years ago Posts: 1,007 |
Quote
VDX
... I've milled the frame of my first delta 2007 from Nylon, the colums from extruded aluminium and the gliders from PTFE -- but seems, it was something against the "RepRap-philosophy" then
Re: Mounting linear rails on plywood/acrylic/whatever? November 12, 2018 04:46PM |
Registered: 5 years ago Posts: 50 |
Quote
MKSA
Eager to see a Delrin frame plus linear guides 3D printer. Will be a first. How comes nobody thought about it ?
Re: Mounting linear rails on plywood/acrylic/whatever? November 13, 2018 02:18AM |
Registered: 6 years ago Posts: 1,007 |
Quote
ruyvieira
I've seen some printers with linear rails mounted on MDF, which is quite possibly the worst material someone could use. As long as it doesn't change shape over time, it's good enough I guess, and that's why I asked about plywood. If it's marine grade it won't suffer with humidity or temperature changes. Maybe adding a facing operation to make it flatter would make it flat enough to mount linear guides without binding.
Re: Mounting linear rails on plywood/acrylic/whatever? November 13, 2018 07:03AM |
Registered: 11 years ago Posts: 5,780 |
Re: Mounting linear rails on plywood/acrylic/whatever? November 13, 2018 07:22AM |
Registered: 5 years ago Posts: 50 |
Quote
MKSA
Quote
ruyvieira
I've seen some printers with linear rails mounted on MDF, which is quite possibly the worst material someone could use. As long as it doesn't change shape over time, it's good enough I guess, and that's why I asked about plywood. If it's marine grade it won't suffer with humidity or temperature changes. Maybe adding a facing operation to make it flatter would make it flat enough to mount linear guides without binding.
How about learning about linear guides ? How they are used, installed etc ???? No excuse with Internet !
OK, at least with plywood, the linear guides will probably not have to "adapt" like you stated in your original post ! "over time this resistance goes away as the balls wear down the rails" !!!!
Quote
the_digital_dentist
All the surfaces mentioned are more likely to conform to the much stiffer linear guide more than the guide flexing to conform to the surface. If you really want to make something using one of those materials, why not use round rails instead of linear guides? Then all you have to worry about is supporting the ends of the rails. That and cheapness is why round rails were/are used in all the cheesy printers made of acrylic, laser cut plywood, and mdf.
If what you're after is the "look" of linear guides without the performance, buy the crappiest hiwin knockoffs you can find. They're all over ebay and they're cheap as dirt (I think they use pebbles instead of steel balls).
Re: Mounting linear rails on plywood/acrylic/whatever? November 13, 2018 03:03PM |
Registered: 6 years ago Posts: 1,007 |
Re: Mounting linear rails on plywood/acrylic/whatever? November 14, 2018 02:43AM |
Registered: 7 years ago Posts: 507 |
Re: Mounting linear rails on plywood/acrylic/whatever? November 14, 2018 04:10PM |
Registered: 10 years ago Posts: 14,672 |
Re: Mounting linear rails on plywood/acrylic/whatever? November 15, 2018 02:02PM |
Registered: 10 years ago Posts: 150 |
Re: Mounting linear rails on plywood/acrylic/whatever? November 15, 2018 04:27PM |
Registered: 6 years ago Posts: 63 |