Drylin Bushings

Did not try the same one. I'm not convinced it will even work, don't want to waste money on this stupid idea, so I print one to see how terrible the idea was.

Linear bearing LM8UU - Igus Style by 3DRAP
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1811769

I was surprised it actually works, it stuck in the beginning, but after multi-round slide along the rod, it is actually pretty smooth. I use it on Anet A8, which came with crappy linear bearing, the printed one is much smoother. Then I see this

Spiral vase linear bushing
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2537701

The Spiral vase linear bushing work as good as Igus Style one, but much lighter, and I followed the author's recommendation on facebook to print Bearing blocks to replace Anet A8 stock full metal Bearing blocks, these two mods greatly reduced the weight for Y axis.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1172838

I did lube them for the first time after they slide smoothly on rod, probably unnecessary, did not lube them after that. Although I don't like the idea of replace the metal linear bearing with plastic one, but I have to admit it actually works better than Anet A8 linbearing, not sure if it is better than CTC one. I did not replace all my printer bearing with printed one, not sure if plastic one will last long.

I can not deny the fact that it works, but I would still prefer something have balls in the bearing.

I did not use the Igus Style one for very long, but Spiral vase one have been on for about 6 month, I kind of forget that printer use different bearing. If it last another 6 month without issue, I'm going to replace Da Vinci 1.0 linebear with the Spiral vase one. My Da Vinci 1.0 linear bearing somehow generate black power in the lubricate oil and make the rod very dirty, this may fix the problem.

I bought some of these to experiment with:

https://folgertech.com/products/igus-rj … lace-lm8uu

One thing I've read since is that they should be used with a mount that compresses them a little. This seems to be confirmed by the fact that they slide nicely over the new rods I bought when loose but I can barely move them when I assemble them in a Lawsy carriage design. I think the open side of the bearing mounts allows them to compress unevenly. I'm confident that my carriage print is good as it slides beautifully with metal bearings in it. I may try to design my own carriage one day with a clamp mount for the bearings. For now I'm going to rebuild the Solidoodle with other parts I have around.

I'm no expert, but I would definitely research this compression issue before buying for use with a Lawsy style carriage.

Hope that helps Carl.

It's because the Lawsy design does not apply pressure evenly. The big gap where you pop the bearings in provides no presssure on those faces and the bearing deforms slightly. I would need a design that applies pressure evenly from all sides.