[bayer]

Hi,

I am trying to design and build a laser cutter with SBR16 rails and SBR16UU bearing block. I have never worked with SBR16, so I need some advice if it can be used with a single rail on the X-Axis as shown below (highlighted in blue).
The laser head will be mounted on the SBR16UU bearing block which rides along the X-Axis.



Does the SBR16UU slide firmly along the rail or it tend to rotate around the rail axis a little? I have seen a lot of SBR16 double rail on CNC Routers but not on laser cutter. The idea is to use the SBR16UU like a linear guide cart because SBR16 is a lot more affordable. Please share your opinion.

Thanks

[Pplug]

Just in case, I would plan on having two bearing blocks per side on the Y axis. Maybe you could get away with using some of the longer bearings I have seen on ebay. They look like two blocks next to each other. I would also make your Y rails a bit longer than necessary to compensate for the extra bearing.

You would need to have two rails on the X axis as well. That would increase the weight of the x axis. Your accelerations for the y axis would suffer. Also the single bearing rail would let the bearing block rock in a twisting fashion.

Overall, The rails & bearings would be fine for the Y axis but not so good for the X.