Customizable Ball Bearing with Flange Generator

thingiverse

This is a customizable ball bearing generator. The main purpose for me was to make a pair of ball bearings to hold a Hatchbox 1kg filament spool on a half inch rod. The second purpose was to practice OpenSCAD programming. The body of the code was borrowed from http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:822960 but I wanted to achieve the look of http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1570238. I think there are some weaknesses in thing:822960. For example, large flat surfaces make it hard to remove from raft. Also the center hub is a little weak. Thing:1570238 looks more robust but it doesn't offer OpenSCAD file so I generated my own. Bearing height is the same as the bearing ball diameter. It is your responsibility to figure out how many balls to put in the bearing. Don't make the balls too small. It will be difficult to print well. I printed my copy on a Micro 3D printer with white PLA. In general printing with raft and support help. It shouldn't take too much efforts to clean it up and it will turn nicely. Play with the tolerance number to make it work better for your need. Print Settings Printer: Micro 3D M3D Rafts: Doesn't Matter Supports: Yes Resolution: 0.25 Infill: 0 to any Notes: Support is a must. Here is my Cura setting. Structure type: Lines Overhang angle for support (Deg): 45 Fill amount (%): 30 Distance X/Y (mm): 0.5 Distance Z (mm): 0.15