Prusa Y carriage linear bearing holder

thingiverse

The Y-carriage on the Prusa i3 has space for 3 linear bearings. They're attached these days with u-shaped metal bolts that are good and sturdy, but have two caveats: 1) they're only available from Prusa or the long-boat from China (copies), and 2) You run the risk of over tightening and deforming the bearing. As I was putting together a new Y carriage, using Drylin RJ4JP bearings, the deformation was especially a concern (plastic bearings deform easier than the metal housing). Also, I didn't have time to wait and the exorbitant money to spend on shipping 3 Y bolts to the US, so I decided to make my own carriage bearing holders. They're designed to be the curve and size/shape of the Drylin bearings -- I have NOT tried them with the metal LM8UU bearings to check size, but they SHOULD be about the same shape/size and should work properly. The design is meant to accept 2 M3x12 bolts for each with locking nuts or hex nuts or something on the other size to tighten things. Because of the shape, it's REALLY hard to over tighten these and deform them. I've checked clearances on my mk3, but those with other designs might want to test and let me know. I can modify the shapes for different tolerances if need be. UPDATE 2018-10-21: I've updated the file with a new mesh that adds a little strength in some of the weak areas of the old one, as well as fixing a mesh error that somehow made it into production (didn't affect much but the bolt holes, but it was annoying). I would recommend downloading the new mesh file (both work, but this one's stronger). Upadate 2019-04-29: I've completely redesigned this thing from the ground up in CAD to be more exact with tolerances, less fragile, and generally better. Get the new mk3 redo. It has notches for LM8, Vesconite, or Drylin bearings, and holds better with no slop.