For those of you asking about the wheels I’m using, picture attached. You can see that the wheel is not perfectly symmetrical. The hub goes almost all the way through, and a washer is used on the opposite side. When tightened in the carriage, the wheel can still spin freely between the hub and washer (note the bolt is not included when you buy them).
The 2nd picture is the prototype extruder carriage. Two pieces of the same shape hold the plastic bearings; one fits on the X and one on the Y, then they’re fastened together. They are the same color as the carbon fiber rods, so it is hard to tell they’re in there. I’m still working on the design and am not quite sure what the mounting hole needs to look like yet.
Be careful what lubricant you use if any on the carbon fiber rods as you need to be compatible with the epoxy resin in the rod. Carbon fiber composite is generally not strong an abrasion resistance, but it may still be fine for your application, depends on the resin, plastic bearings, lubricant, and cleanliness. In really curious to see if this works. So why did you decide on carbon fiber as opposed to steel rod, I’m assuming weight?
It will be much lighter as it is carbon fiber AND hollow, and you still retain decent bending and torsional rigidity from the hollow cross section.
I’m just curious to how it compares to steel, and how the outer diameter will wear against the bearings.
There will be initial wear since the outer diameter is not intended for precision, but that will home the outer surface smoother, which should help you. Again, I’m really looking forward to see your results
@Eric_Moy yes, I chose these because of weight. I’m planning to have the extruder mounted at the intersection of the rods. I want to be able to print flexible filament, so I hear bowden tube won’t work. Therefore, to keep the moving mass down and the poles straight across a relatively large span, I thought carbon fiber.
