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    An "hardware" advice for linear rails

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    • fcwiltundefined
      fcwilt @A Former User
      last edited by

      @thedragonlord said in An "hardware" advice for linear rails:

      just the two flanges and the vertical plate which connects to the rail cursor

      It would be the part I wanted to modify. That seems to be the way of the universe. 😁

      Were they designed for you or were they part of another printer design?

      Thanks.

      Frederick

      Printers: a E3D MS/TC setup and a RatRig Hybrid. Using Duet 3 hardware running 3.4.6

      A Former User? 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • A Former User?
        A Former User @fcwilt
        last edited by

        @fcwilt said in An "hardware" advice for linear rails:

        @thedragonlord said in An "hardware" advice for linear rails:

        just the two flanges and the vertical plate which connects to the rail cursor

        It would be the part I wanted to modify. That seems to be the way of the universe. 😁

        Were they designed for you or were they part of another printer design?

        Thanks.

        Frederick

        it's a kit for the Tronxy X5S

        fcwiltundefined 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • fcwiltundefined
          fcwilt @A Former User
          last edited by

          @thedragonlord said in An "hardware" advice for linear rails:

          it's a kit for the Tronxy X5S

          Thanks much. Maybe they have a doc showing the dimensions - I could work from that.

          Frederick

          Printers: a E3D MS/TC setup and a RatRig Hybrid. Using Duet 3 hardware running 3.4.6

          A Former User? 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • A Former User?
            A Former User @fcwilt
            last edited by A Former User

            @fcwilt said in An "hardware" advice for linear rails:

            @thedragonlord said in An "hardware" advice for linear rails:

            it's a kit for the Tronxy X5S

            Thanks much. Maybe they have a doc showing the dimensions - I could work from that.

            Frederick

            the seller is DMaker. com

            EDIT
            dmaker.it not .com and the kit is named KIT V2 ECO

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • achrnundefined
              achrn @A Former User
              last edited by

              @thedragonlord said in An "hardware" advice for linear rails:

              Thanks again! Just a last question....what's a hollow box?

              I mean a rectangular tubular member.

              This is returning to a comment made up the thread - 2020 pultrusion (and similar) is good in lots of ways, but it's not the best from either a sructural strength or stiffness point of view.

              In general terms, for resting bending you want material spaced away from the centre of the section - so for bending in one direction only you end up with 'I' beams that have chunky flanges and tall narrow webs that are mainly just there to hold the flanges apart but acting together. If you have similar bending forces in both directions you want flanges in both directions, so you end up with a rectangular tube, or box.

              The other big win for tubes / boxes is that closed hollow sections are much much better than 'open' sections in torsion. So of these two sections, if they had same quantity of material and the same dimensions, the one on the right (which is what I mean by hollow box) will be massively stiffer in torsion :

              Ivbox.jpg

              You can demonstrate this for yourself - if you take a cardboard tube from the middle of a roll of toilet tissue and try and twist it it's fairly strong, if you cut down its length so it's now a C-section and twist it it becomes much more flexible, because the cut edges shear along each other. That is like this: very stiff when the tube is intact, cut along the red line and it becomes very flexible:

              tube.jpg

              Round tubes are particularly good in torsion, but are less good in bending (flexure) unless the bending is equal in any or all directions. Round tubes are also difficult to join to. Rectangular tubes are nearly as good in torsion, but easier to join (though not as easy as 2020). So when I said 'hollow box' I just meant a rectangular tube.

              The 2020 sections do have a small hollow part in the middle, but it's not very big. That's why if you don't need the ease of connections, it might be better (but less convenient) to use a section that's more tailored to what you require (but you will need to drill holes for nuts and bolts, possibly use blind fixings etc). On balance, I'd probably stick with the 2020 range of sections, but (as previously noted) go up a size if worried about stiffness.

              A Former User? o_lampeundefined 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • A Former User?
                A Former User @achrn
                last edited by

                @achrn said in An "hardware" advice for linear rails:

                @thedragonlord said in An "hardware" advice for linear rails:

                Thanks again! Just a last question....what's a hollow box?

                I mean a rectangular tubular member.

                This is returning to a comment made up the thread - 2020 pultrusion (and similar) is good in lots of ways, but it's not the best from either a sructural strength or stiffness point of view.

                In general terms, for resting bending you want material spaced away from the centre of the section - so for bending in one direction only you end up with 'I' beams that have chunky flanges and tall narrow webs that are mainly just there to hold the flanges apart but acting together. If you have similar bending forces in both directions you want flanges in both directions, so you end up with a rectangular tube, or box.

                The other big win for tubes / boxes is that closed hollow sections are much much better than 'open' sections in torsion. So of these two sections, if they had same quantity of material and the same dimensions, the one on the right (which is what I mean by hollow box) will be massively stiffer in torsion :

                Ivbox.jpg

                You can demonstrate this for yourself - if you take a cardboard tube from the middle of a roll of toilet tissue and try and twist it it's fairly strong, if you cut down its length so it's now a C-section and twist it it becomes much more flexible, because the cut edges shear along each other. That is like this: very stiff when the tube is intact, cut along the red line and it becomes very flexible:

                tube.jpg

                Round tubes are particularly good in torsion, but are less good in bending (flexure) unless the bending is equal in any or all directions. Round tubes are also difficult to join to. Rectangular tubes are nearly as good in torsion, but easier to join (though not as easy as 2020). So when I said 'hollow box' I just meant a rectangular tube.

                The 2020 sections do have a small hollow part in the middle, but it's not very big. That's why if you don't need the ease of connections, it might be better (but less convenient) to use a section that's more tailored to what you require (but you will need to drill holes for nuts and bolts, possibly use blind fixings etc). On balance, I'd probably stick with the 2020 range of sections, but (as previously noted) go up a size if worried about stiffness.

                wow, thanks for the explaining! absolutely clear! May I ask you if you are a teacher in your life? thanks again

                achrnundefined 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • mrehorstdmdundefined
                  mrehorstdmd
                  last edited by mrehorstdmd

                  If you want to mount linear guides on rectangular tubing, you can print a tool that holds nuts that are spaced to match the holes in the linear guide. Drill holes in the tube, slide the tool filled with the nuts into the tube, screw the linear guide down, then remove the printed tool. Bob's yer uncle!

                  Use nylock nuts or include star-type lock washers and the nuts will never loosen.

                  alt text

                  https://drmrehorst.blogspot.com/

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
                  • achrnundefined
                    achrn @A Former User
                    last edited by

                    @thedragonlord said in An "hardware" advice for linear rails:

                    May I ask you if you are a teacher in your life? thanks again

                    No, not enought patience to be a real teacher.

                    I'm a structural engineer, but I do spend some of my working life explaining engineering topics to lawyers, so 'sort of', in that I sometimes get paid to try and explain things clearly.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • A Former User?
                      A Former User @fcwilt
                      last edited by

                      @fcwilt said in An "hardware" advice for linear rails:

                      @thedragonlord

                      Hi,

                      Could you send me a STEP file of the gray parts holding the pulleys?

                      There is a arrangement I want to try out and post here for you to look at.

                      Frederick

                      I'm curios, what sort of arrangement were you thinking?

                      fcwiltundefined 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • o_lampeundefined
                        o_lampe @achrn
                        last edited by

                        @achrn
                        Would you say, it'll be benefitical for existing printers made from 2020 extrusion to cover the unused T-slots with flat aluminum strips? Superglue works well on aluminum.

                        achrnundefined 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • fcwiltundefined
                          fcwilt @A Former User
                          last edited by

                          @thedragonlord said in An "hardware" advice for linear rails:

                          @fcwilt said in An "hardware" advice for linear rails:

                          @thedragonlord

                          Hi,

                          Could you send me a STEP file of the gray parts holding the pulleys?

                          There is a arrangement I want to try out and post here for you to look at.

                          Frederick

                          I'm curios, what sort of arrangement were you thinking?

                          I will post a picture.

                          Frederick

                          Printers: a E3D MS/TC setup and a RatRig Hybrid. Using Duet 3 hardware running 3.4.6

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • achrnundefined
                            achrn @o_lampe
                            last edited by

                            @o_lampe said in An "hardware" advice for linear rails:

                            @achrn
                            Would you say, it'll be benefitical for existing printers made from 2020 extrusion to cover the unused T-slots with flat aluminum strips? Superglue works well on aluminum.

                            That's an intersting idea I haven't considered before.

                            I wouldn't do it, because if the stiffness needed increasing I'd put in a bigger section. If you want to enhance stiffenss, increasing the overall dimension of the member beats everything (in general).

                            I agree cyanoacrylate adhesives work well on aluminium (both the actual aluminium and the oxide most of it is covered with). I note the bond of the oxide to underlying material is not great, so doing bonded aluminium joints properly is not straightforward - you'd want to degrease then gritblast then bond immediately. That's not a hobbyist-printer sort of process. If you omit the gritblast your bond strength will be limited to what peels the oxide off, and I don't know (offhand) what that value is.

                            Even if you can get enough bond strength, I think it would only be worthwhile if you were desperate for a small increase in stiffness for some reason (avoiding a particular resonant frequency, maybe) and trying to retrofit a solution to get maybe 30% more stiffness without changing the dimensions of the member much (e.g. if substituting a bigger member means you need to redesign a high proportion of something already built). It probably does more for torsion stiffness than flexural, but even then I think the same applies.

                            I will caveat my remarks by saying I'm principally civil / structural engineer, and most of my industry is very sceptical of bonded joints (though they all still drive to meetings in cars with bonded critical components, and fly on holiday in planes with bonded joints in the wings). I'm probably inherently averse to it - I know enough to be aware of lots of potential pitfalls.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • fcwiltundefined
                              fcwilt @A Former User
                              last edited by

                              @thedragonlord said in An "hardware" advice for linear rails:

                              I'm curios, what sort of arrangement were you thinking?

                              Here is a rough idea.

                              A 20x40 extrusion supports the 2 pieces of linear rail guide.

                              The green pieces are simply place holders for the actual pieces designed to mount the idlers.

                              Two Rail Idea.png

                              Printers: a E3D MS/TC setup and a RatRig Hybrid. Using Duet 3 hardware running 3.4.6

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • A Former User?
                                A Former User
                                last edited by A Former User

                                Good morning, waiting for the belt and the pulleys to arrive from Aliexpress I'm still experimenting a new solution to use two linear rails....I'm focusing on adding the second rail in the bottom side of the 2020 extrusion, the issue is that the two MGN12H cursor can be "overlapped" so I thought about theese two solutions: The first solution uses a single cursor in the front rail and two in the low rail; the second solution uses a single cursor even in the low rail. In your opinion what would be the best? I think that three cursors are maybe the best solution, but it could be maybe a "little" overkilled...on the other side maybe just a single cursor placed on the left (or the right) could maybe create a kind of problem? As you can see I've just thought about the rail and cursor(s) postitioning so I haven't designed the plate yet.....in your opinion what solution is better? As I said my actual rails are cheaper chinese peaces so I don't think that a single rail will be enough for the total weight...(i would like to print a little faster than 30 mm/s)

                                First solution:
                                Solution 1.png
                                Solution 1-2.png

                                Second solution:
                                Solution 2.png
                                Solution 2-2.png

                                o_lampeundefined mrehorstdmdundefined 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • o_lampeundefined
                                  o_lampe @A Former User
                                  last edited by

                                  @thedragonlord
                                  Don't see them as a single joint: each carrier has 4 screw holes
                                  I've made the experience that two cheap carriers on one rail don't necessarily run smooth. I could only use the outer screw holes to fix the plate. But it still runs more stable, because of the wider stance. So I'd do it again the same way.

                                  You could also try one carrier per rail but put them as far apart as possible: one to the far left, the other to the far right.

                                  A Former User? 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • A Former User?
                                    A Former User @o_lampe
                                    last edited by A Former User

                                    @o_lampe said in An "hardware" advice for linear rails:

                                    @thedragonlord
                                    Don't see them as a single joint: each carrier has 4 screw holes
                                    I've made the experience that two cheap carriers on one rail don't necessarily run smooth. I could only use the outer screw holes to fix the plate. But it still runs more stable, because of the wider stance. So I'd do it again the same way.

                                    You could also try one carrier per rail but put them as far apart as possible: one to the far left, the other to the far right.

                                    You are absolutely right, I forgot to mention that I can't shift the front carrier left or right beacuse tha gray plate is made of alluminum and the existing holes doesn't fit the carrier if I shift it...I'd have to drill new holes in the middle of the existing ones and I don't have the right tools to do it precisely....

                                    o_lampeundefined 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • o_lampeundefined
                                      o_lampe @A Former User
                                      last edited by

                                      @thedragonlord
                                      ...then I'd go for three carriers and hope the best 🙂

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • mrehorstdmdundefined
                                        mrehorstdmd @A Former User
                                        last edited by

                                        @thedragonlord If you're willing to throw so much moving mass around, why not just use a single, larger linear guide? Everything would be easier and there would be no concerns about aligning multiple guide rails.

                                        https://drmrehorst.blogspot.com/

                                        A Former User? 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • A Former User?
                                          A Former User @mrehorstdmd
                                          last edited by

                                          @mrehorstdmd said in An "hardware" advice for linear rails:

                                          @thedragonlord If you're willing to throw so much moving mass around, why not just use a single, larger linear guide? Everything would be easier and there would be no concerns about aligning multiple guide rails.

                                          I have to use what I already own, I have no extra money to spend right now

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