Looking into alternatives for the standard MGN12 rails and assuming the Igus drylin T low profile guides would the equivalent. Is it just me or are the Igus rails normally prohibitively expensive?
500mm MGN12 rails with carriage is about £40 but getting pricing for Igus rails on their site it is nearly double at £72 for the same length and carriage. (per rail and carriage so multiply by 3 for a delta example)
Is it really that good to be double the cost? Does anyone else here use Drylin T have any feedback on the quality?
Thanks
The igus stuff generally has a lot more play than you want for a 3D printer.
Really? I thought that was more for the misused compression fit linear rod bearings. I was hoping the Drylin T would be decently good tolerance assuming the use of the no-float blocks.
I have IGUS linear bearings in h-belt printer and I have too much play on both Y axis. But this is some basic model with bigger tolerance. Now I’m waiting for lm08luu and other Igus bearings with less tolerance to reduce the clearance.
There is an adjustable-preload T carriage and an automatic-clearance-adjusting T carriage. There are also preloaded N rails for light loads. I haven’t tried any of them but in principle they should be workable.
Those prices you’re quoting for MGN12s are very, very low, and odds are good they will not move smoothly. Igus rails are considerably cheaper than genuine quality ball bearing rails.
Buy nice rails, you won’t be sorry you did.
There’s MGN rails then there’s MGN. So many are knock-offs that look like Hiwins and are numbered like them but they aren’t. If you’re willing to risk needing to buy spare rail or cars you might be OK. They are often coated in a sticky oil, so you will need to flush the bearings out for smooth operation.
Pacific Bearing has a GST line that might be an option. IGUS and PBC counterparts may or may not be drop-in replacements for the regular linear ball rail, I found that the hole patterns and threads didn’t match industry norms for the size that I wanted.