Easy Caged Ball Bearing

thingiverse

I needed ball bearings and decided to take caged ones because of the reduced number of needed balls and lower friction. Most models I found were either difficult to print or difficult to assemble. Thus I designed one with a simplified cage that fulfilled my needs: - easy to print, easy assembly - runs quite smoothly - only one file to print - no support needed - option to change number of balls The smaller one: - 4, 6 or 12 balls, diameter 4.5mm - diameter of bearing 30mm - height 10mm - hole (feed size) 8mm The bigger one - 7 or 14 balls, diameter 6mm - diameter of bearing 45mm - height 12mm - hole 10mm I took balls made of stainless steel. Carbon steel should also work (cheaper and harder but prone to corrosion). Perhaps softair BB pellets is another option. Note: Even with identical settings the result may vary from printer to printer. Even on the same printer with constant settings you may get slightly different results depending on the filament you use. If your copy is too loose or too tight I would suggest to tweak the flow setting. My printer settings (printed with PLA, 0.4 mm nozzle): Layer height: 0.2mm Layer width: 0.4mm Infill: 20% IMPORTANT: Set Z Seam location: RANDOM!! Print speed: 60mm/s (walls, top, bottom and initial layer: 20mm/s) No support Build plate adhesion: skirt https://youtu.be/oqylOmDvuLI