3D Printed Linear Guide Experiment

Hello Curious people.

Most DIY guys use 3d printers and CNC machines.

I use ender 3 for 3d printing.

Ender 3 uses a Wheel mechanism to move in X,Y directions.

I see some 3d printers like Voron that use Steel Linear guides for smooth slider movement.

Also notice because of less friction in the Linear guide mechanism it is reliable and fast compared to the Wheel mechanism which produces more friction and is slow in movement.

Because of more friction, the Motor needs more current to move that mechanism.

I saw a video on “how to change wheel mechanism and place a Linear guide instead”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3xMHjiYENk

But Steel linear guide is much heavier than the roller mechanism and expensive to me.

So, I decided to make a cheaper and more reliable Linear guide from my Ender 3 printer.

I design a Linear guide and make a test rig, which is used to ensure linear movement of any device attached to it.

1> 3d printer (Recommend Ender-3).

2> Computer system with Fusion360.

3> Cura Software for slicing( As per your 3D printer)

4> 40x20mm Aluminum profile (Approx 1 meter )

5> 6 mm HTD 2mm belt (Approx 2 meters.)

6> HTD 2mm pulley.

7> 625 oz Bearing x 2 pieces.

8> M5 x 40mm bolt and nut

9> M4x 10mm Bolt and T-Nut for Assembly.x 5 piece.

10 stepper motor 

11. Arduino and A4988 Stepper drive

12> Some wire for connection.

13> 12v Adaptor.

First I researched some different standard profiles of Linear guides on the internet.

After that, I want to design my own 3D printable Linear guide in Autodesk Fusion360.

Fusion360 is a great tool to make design and manufacturing workflow.

it helps me to do design as well as help in 3d printing by integrating CURA software in the manufacturing section.

First Check some requirements of a 3d printer to 3d print any design.

1> For smooth Movement we avoid overhangs or keep all angles lower than 45 degrees.(90 *= overhang)

2> We need to design a slider to slide on Linear rail.

3> Place some Brass insert on top of the slider part to connect any device to move on this Linear guide.

4> Consider 3d printers' tolerance for making files and provide tolerance before 3d printing.

1> I Start from the base. Draw 20 mm wide and 2mm thick for the base.

2> then draw a line at 120 degrees and 4mm long.

3> draw a curve in a 4 mm span and 2mm at its minor axis.

4> then draw a line perpendicular to the curve length of 3mm.

5> total height is 11mm and width is 20mm.

Consideration of width according to aluminum profile dimension.

Extrude profile 280mm.

It's too easy after the design slide.

1. Need to project the same Linear rail profile on a new sketch.
2. Then draw a rectangle base that is connected to the same profile.
3. Make side support of the slider to connect the Belt to it.
4. Extrude it 45 mm.
5. Do chamfer if required.
6. Make a hole in the side support for the belt connection.

Check out my video on How to Custom design a Linear guide and slider.

Export these 2 parts separately in.STL file format.

I use CURA as a slicer to make G-CODE for the Ender-3 3d printer.

Please use the below parameter for making good prints out of Ender-3.

Parameters.

Layer thickness: 0.15mm

Wall : 3

Infill:25 

Infill pattern: Triangle or grid.

Material: PLA

Speed: 45 mm/s

Adhesion: Brim

Support: no

With this Parameter Linear guide takes 6 hr and the slider takes 2 hr to print.

Please check the Position of printing in my images to avoid problems.

I print the slider and Linear guide part, so the Direction of the layers is in the direction of the print.

Using this we did not see any friction between the Linear guide and Slider.

I pace the Linear guide diagonally to use all available areas of the ender 3 bed.

After printing we just need to remove the brim layer, no extra post-process is required.

Use my STL for 3d printing.

Use attach file or go to the below Link.

Thingiverse Link.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5646688

For moving any part, Camera, or phone in a Linear direction,i design a Linear rig using an Aluminum profile.

For assurance of working of 3d printed Linear guide and slider in the same way as steel part works.

I use approx 1 meter 40 x 20 mm profile for the base.

Fix linear guide using T-nut and M4 Bolts.

Use a Brass insert on Slider parts to attach any device to it.

Use some 3d printed parts to attach the stepper motor on the profile.(STL file attached)

Check out the main video for details.

Check out the Image for electronic connection between Arduino, A4988 driver, and stepper motor.

Use the below code to move stepper 3 rotation clockwise and 3 rotation anti-clockwise.

https://www.makerguides.com/a4988-stepper-motor-driver-arduino-tutorial/

After the electronic connection, we start the 12v adapter to check the movement of the slider.

The testing rig is working very well.

We can mount cameras or phones to shoot at any moment.

We use this Linear guide in Ender 3 as well.

Refer to the below video from Teaching tech.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3xMHjiYENk

Sorry for some blurry images, i don't have a good camera for documentation.

Thanks for reading My Instructable.Hope this is valuable for you and helps you to make what you want.