3D Printed Bearings With Filament Rollers

Commodity bearings are a a boon for makers who to want something to rotate smoothly, but what if you don’t have one in a pinch? [Cliff] of might have the answer for you, in the form of 3D printed bearings with filament rollers.

With the exception of the raw filament rollers, the inner and outer race, roller cage and cap are all printed. It would also be possible to design some of the components right into a rotating assembly. [Cliff] makes it clear this experiment isn’t about replacing metal bearings — far from it. Instead, it’s an inquiry into how self-sufficient one can be with a FDM 3D printer. That didn’t stop him from torture testing the design to its limits as wheel bearings on an off-road go-cart. The first version wasn’t well supported against axial loads, and ripped apart during some more enthusiastic maneuvers.

[Cliff] improved it with a updated inner race and some 3D printed washers, which held up to 30 minutes of riding with only minimal signs of wear. He also made a slightly more practical 10 mm OD version that fits over an M3 bolt, and all the design files are downloadable for free. Cutting the many pieces of filament to length quickly turned into a chore, so a simple cutting jig is also included.

Let us know in the comments below where you think these would be practical. We’ve covered some other 3D printed bearing that use printed races, as well as a slew bearing that’s completely printed.

24 thoughts on “3D Printed Bearings With Filament Rollers

  1. It’s not clear that those filament rollers even, you know, rolled.

    I’ve had really good luck just using a polished stainless steel shaft on plain close-fitting PLA, lubricated by silicone grease. As long as temperatures keep low (to avoid melting) and loading is low (to avoid creep), they last.
    I have some bearings in service for 7 years now, 1/4″ shaft, 2″ long, loaded by max 2 lb. They operate up to 50 C at times. Still as good as the day they were printed.

    1. “It’s not clear that those filament rollers even, you know, rolled.”

      Agree. I wouldn’t be surprised if a simple greased 3D printed sleeve performed as well or better. Certainly a lot more surface area.

      1. “Mr. Painter sets the game, it’s bad, but that’s the game” said many citizens of 1933 Germany. I’m sure by winter 1945 they were so proud of their earlier indifference to evil; when the only thing to eat was ersatz bread made mostly of sawdust.

        If you keep feeding the “mighty algorithm”, expect that one day the only thing left to consume will be its excretions.

    1. The only thing here that looks slightly unique is that it appears they are using cuttings of filiment for the rollers. Otherwise 3D printed bearings are well trodden ground and don’t really seem that interesting anymore.

      1. I’ve seen plenty of 3d printed “skate bearing” substitutes, the sort that one would use when building a 3d printer.

        A GoKart bearing however… is that really well trodden ground? I wouldn’t have believed it possible.

        1. imo i think the gokart would be easier. i know i don’t have the best-dialed-in printer of all time but basically the geometric features get more and more distorted on smaller objects. a bunch of effects pile together — less time for the layer below to cool, rounding of corners, the general +/-0.2mm nature of my machine, the slicer decisions. it can get really ugly and it isn’t always uniform around any given axis.

          at larger sizes, these sources of error all exist but don’t seem as significant. the thing is still “roughly circular” even if it’s got 0.2mm of unintentional flatness somewhere.

          i only print with pla and so far i have been very impressed by its strength under compression. when it really matters to me (like my bicycle trailer hitch), i design it so that the metal fasteners will prevent the thing from getting 100% free even if the plastic disappears in a puff of dust. and i just leave it on the bike in all weather (though it is in a garage much of the day). i know PLA gets super brittle under that condition but big (20mm thickness) blocks of it under compression don’t seem to suffer any faults at all for at least a couple years, even when abused.

          knock on wood

    1. Its very wear resistant and self lubricating which are things that you really want for a bearing.

      You can also get low friction, high wear and self lubricating filament too. Igus makes some but it is expensive or there are some PC-PTFE and PETG-PTFE blends too.

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