[Regnar]

I was at the Home Depot today and I came across patio door rollers. I always keep and eye out for things that could be used or things that I could try, but I figured I would get your guys opinions first. What I was thinking was to take the rollers and using them on some 3/8 L beam steel. The L beam was the only steel there that was rounded over close to the patio bearings.

Things that are coming off the top of my head are they can handle a lot of weight, Hell when I removed patio doors here at the house I need help to carry the glass to the truck.

I see them sorta like v bearings just a u instead of a v. So what do you guys think just a waste of time or might be onto something. Any other ideals on what to use for the track?

Here is a picture with a few close measurements.

[rustamd]

I think they would work, but good improvement for it would be to put ball bearing in it. I think those rivet type shafts are not so precise to begin with.

But how much are they? Will they compare to $12/ea. for v-groove bearings if you also compare precision?

[dertsap]

i had the same idea a while back but those bearings are too sloppy to work

[Madclicker]

Those bearings won't work, but there are some on the same rack that get closer. They are the lower bearings for the heavy glass patio doors. Look a lot like the real v-bearings. They have ball bearings, but are a little too sloppy as is.

[olskool]

I've been thinking the same thing about these little suckers. They're about $5 for 2. I've got two pix, showing the bearing and the side profile.

there's about 1/32" of play in both the left/right, and the axial direction




hmmmm... is it too much to ask to wonder if these will work with the v-aluminum some people are using?

[rustamd]

hmm, what if you press that bearing out and put skate bearing in there... Whats diameter of that bearing?

[olskool]

i'm no bearing-ologist but they're about 17mm across, and 9mm thick. they appear to be made of two pieces, and they are pressed together, but I have no idea how to press them out.

[rustamd]

i'm no bearing-ologist but they're about 17mm across, and 9mm thick. they appear to be made of two pieces, and they are pressed together, but I have no idea how to press them out.

posibly the same way you would press new bearings in, with press, either arbor or hydraulic?

[dertsap]

5/16 rod and a hammer breaks them apart , you can (carefully) grind back the one part about .01" to close up the gap ,they are very cheaply built and assembled ,the material is softer than what you would need for a proper bearing ,
i came to the conclusion that i had wasted a few more bucks on research and developement

[Madclicker]

5/16 rod and a hammer breaks them apart , you can (carefully) grind back the one part about .01" to close up the gap ,they are very cheaply built and assembled ,the material is softer than what you would need for a proper bearing ,
i came to the conclusion that i had wasted a few more bucks on research and developement

Yea, I don't think they would be any good for a router.......I think I'll use them for a foam cutter. They ride very nice on 1/4" HR flat bar. Constructed from unistrut......hmmmm.....4 independent axes.....I can see the light!

[rustamd]

Yea, I don't think they would be any good for a router.......I think I'll use them for a foam cutter. They ride very nice on 1/4" HR flat bar. Constructed from unistrut......hmmmm.....4 independent axes.....I can see the light!

i agree, they might not like alot of load, but might be useful alternative to some other projects that require linear movement..

[Madclicker]

i agree, they might not like alot of load, but might be useful alternative to some other projects that require linear movement..

Try them. Let us know how they work out. I wasn't happy with them and stopped at the $5 level.

[tpworks]

this guy believes it is possible.
http://accurate-inspections.com/pr%20cnc%20upgrade/
The MechMate site has a person whom used this type of bearing on his router
MechMate is a open source router that is similar to the old shopbot.

http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showt...t=sliding+door

[dertsap]

the problem a guy faces is :
if you can get those bearings so they only have .002 slop at the bearing ,that .002 gets exaggerated the further your assembly extends past the bearings ,greatly exaggerated, in order to get them tight enough to take up the slack the bearings smoothness is lost ,the parts simply do not match up 100% ,if you go any tighter those bearings won t turn ,or bind

another thing to concider is the out of roundness of the bearing , they are mass producted non precision parts
if they are out of round ,then you would need to add that to the slop already there
i have a dozen of them , one came out with somewhat smooth action , out of a few that ive modified ,
ive done many abortions in my life and this one isn t worth it if a guy wants a 100% solid machine

[rustamd]

I think you are looking at this from different side. This is just another alternative to homemade DIY linear movement.

If guy wants 100% solid machine he better be using THK style rails and ball screws. I think that guy would have no room in DIY forum, just my ¢.02

Remember this was just discussion:wave:

[dertsap]

i have my system in the diy forum , ive used v-groove bearings and it is very solid
i had looked at it from the side your talking about , i tryed it and was not satisfied with the results ,i'm not telling anyone not to do it but concidering the fact i work with high precision machining i do have a fair bit of knowledge of the difficulties a few thousands of an inch can cause




concidering ive tryed it , i thought i would share my 2 cent in this discussion

good luck

[zippy]

I tried those for a non-cnc linear motion project about 5 years ago. ran them on some 1/4" or 3/16" (don't remember) rod tacked to the center of two sides of some 1/2" square tube. It didn't work they were just to sloppy. most of us have probably looked them over at some point and said hmmm.

[Gerald_D]

These threads on this MechMate forum may be more applicable:

Handmade V-Rollers

Alternative ideas on V-roller shapes & materials

Gerald