PLA bushing?

I was thinking...

Is good idea replace at least the X and Y linear bushing by others printed in PLA?

I will print my parts in ABS, but maybe make the bushings in PLA, cheaper and less noisy...

Like to hear your ideas...

Still don't worked with PLA...

I have never tried, but others did:

http://reprap.org/wiki/PLA_bushings

and more on google.

I wonder how long they last, though...

I have all PLA busings on my SmartRapCore for all axis. It's still in the process of assembly but I am hopeful they will last once I start printing.

@cristian The question if is a good idea or someone tried. xD

@rcjoseb I'm following your improvements ;-)

Definitely more than one person tried, I have also seen them in action and they work well. But how long?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/2015 09:05PM by cristian.

I am using DU bushings on my briefcase printer. DU bushings are rolled steel cylinders with a teflon lining. They are cheap, compact and light weight and because the seam is not welded, you can easily tweak them with a tapered punch to make sure they slide easily on your smooth rods before you fit them. I prefer them over the LM08UU bearings because they do not require hardened, chromed, precision ground smooth rods and they need no lubrication so they attract no dust. I now have my briefcase printer a bit more sorted and it is doing good quality prints reliably at default Slic3r settings with minimal noise. You can purchase DU bushings by the 100 from Aliexpress for about the same price as 10 LM08UU bearings. In contrast, my other machine uses LM08UU bearings and although it has had hundreds of hours of use, the bearings are now a bit scratchy at times and probably need replacing.

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My Prusa Mendel i2 inspired Repstrap with welded steel frame: [youtu.be]
And my Smartrap derived Briefcase 3D printer: [youtu.be]

@cristian: yes, thats is the question...

Maybe someone that uses, can give us an idea... normal lm8uu have to ve replaced, oiled and make noise... i'm not happy with it on my prusa i3 xD, but prefer to not make more mods... now after a few months starting good print quality at low speeds...