Solidoodle stock rods not useable with linear bearings (Page 2 of 3)

That's good to know for future reference, although cutting these with a dremel is a matter of seconds.

Even with a hacksaw is not that tough.  The rods are not hardened all they way through, only the surface.

The thin 1/32" x 1" wheels make really quick job of it, but as you know they're quite fragile and shatter a lot, so lately I've been using the heavy duty 1 1/4" fiberglass wheel.  Doesn't quite have the same byte as the thin ones, but still gets the job done, and doesn't wear out.  At least not as fast as the thin ones.

For the rods I usually just go straight through half way, then the same from the other side.  Then I use one of the grinding wheels to remove the burrs, smooth and chamfer the edge. 

Since the rods don't have to mate to anything on the ends, it's not critical the face be perfect, or perfectly square.

Update:

Got the rods, and I was about to install them, but looking at those hose clamps, really made me think how cheap that looks, so it was time for something a bit less "ghetto", so I opted to use "E" retaining clips instead.  I used the Dremel tool to cut a groove into the rod, about 1mm deep all around.  It's not perfect, but works quite well.

Wow, that does look really nice; haven't cut mine up yet, but that gives me something to try.

where you find those E clips?

i asked the guy to cut mine to length he said only offers cutting on lots of 20 - 30 rods! 

just to be sure Y rods are 14 and X are 13? 

Pirvan what length did you cut yours to leave room for the clips?

@Ronsii
You could put the e-clips inside the frame if you don't have enough length for an outside groove.

That sounds good too, and you could get a nice super clean look, the only problem would be installing the "E" clip, it would be a pain to getting in there, almost blind.

@MolecularConcept
just to be sure Y rods are 14 and X are 13?
Pirvan what length did you cut yours to leave room for the clips?

The front to back ("Y") rods are, at least on my SD3, 14" long.  At that length they stick out through the frame by about 1/16" on each side.  The side to side ("X" carriage) rods are 13" long.  But you should measure your printer to make sure.

If you want to do a "E" clip setup like mine, then cut the rod 1/8" longer (14-1/8"), then cut the groove about 1/16"- 3/32" (D1) in from the end.  The groove width (G1) is about the 1/16", and the groove depth is about 1/16".

It's not critical that you get the dimensions perfect, as long as you err on the "+" side.  If you find that the rod has a bit for front to back play after you put the clips on, you can easily take up the space with a rubber grommet.  In my case I happened to have some O rings, and I used one between the "clip and the case.  It's compressible and fits like a glove.  It also seems to reduce vibration noise to an extent

Good luck on getting your done.  Now if Solidoodle would start doing it like this, I think it would make the product look a bit more polished.  I also think it would be cheaper, and easier to install.  "E" clips in small quanitites (<25) cost about 20 cents.  I'm sure those hose clamps cost more than that.

BTW, I bought the "E" clips at Lowes hardware.  They only had SAE, no metric, but it doesn't really make much difference.  I bought the 5/16" clips, which is very close to 8mm.  Any decent hardware store should have these.

Pirvan, try using a 30 or 40mm fan on the side of your hot end. It's amazing how much that helped with my printing and my own designed extruder. I made my fan mount a part of my design (30x30x10), and given your excellent design and CAD skills, this would be the approach I would take. Nice mods. Great print quality.

So I am finally getting stuff printed and think I finally have everything I need to swap out the rods and replace with the Lawsy carriage with the linear bearings and the Bulldog XL extruder.  Only thing left is to cut the rods down  

I noticed with my carriages a very slight space between the bearings ( ~.4mm wide if i had to guess by inserting a single layer print so not snug)... hoping to use a small shim for now and glue it in with acetone as rest of prints seem pretty good.  Looking forward to doing this swap out.

Depending on your print settings, the final result with Lawsy's carriage ends may result in a somewhat loose fit.  rather print them again, what I did was to cut a couple of pieces of a business card about the same length as the bearings, and I wedged them under the bearing. 

That was enough to take up any of the play, and they've been solid ever since.  No play, no loose bearings on the shaft, just smooth movement.

I did not use Lawsy's extruder carriage, only the ends, so I don't know how that part is.

One thing I can tell you is that with these ends you will probably need either longer belts, or longer screws.  At least I did.  The spacing between the bolts (where you attach your belts) is shorter than the spacing on the original Solidoodle ends.  I had to use a longer screw for the adjustment end.

If I understand what your asking I never replaced they pulley gear but I did flip it over.  Are you referring to the picture above?  That isn't mine but looks like it is flipped over as well.

Got it... thanks!