Create a Parametric 3d-printable Slew Bearing With Fusion 360

Ball-bearings are very popular for 3d-printing. However they often fail for real applications. Using Fusion 360 I've created a parametric design of a "Crossed Roller Slew Bearing". The result is a pretty accurate and robust bearing. The bearing including the rollers is 3d-printed in separate parts. There are a few screws needed to clamp the two halves of the inner race together.

There are now two options for you to use this project:

• Step through the video-tutorial, develop your personal design

• Use the design as it is, adjust parameters, 3d-print a Slew-Bearing

Click on the video above. I've recorded the complete design process (only 15 minutes), and packed it in this video. The video includes important hints for making your own 3d-printable objects. The Slew-Bearing is just a very useful example. You will learn various good practices for working with Fusion 360. It's not a beginners tutorial. To get started with Fusion 360 I recommend the official tutorials.

If you don't yet have Fusion 360, I recommend to install the Student version (for free). Download the desired fusion file, and create a "New Design from File". In order to change the parameters, I recommend to watch my video at 13:16. The video also shows, how to export STL-files. 3d-printing is straightforward. A normal FDM 3d-printer will do the job (I'm using an Ultimaker 2).

• "Slew Bearing.f3d" is the version which is developed in the tutorial. The rollers have cylindrical shape. The design works well for large bearings with many rollers.
• "Slew Bearing Conic.f3d" is an improved version with conical rollers. It works well also for smaller bearings with only a few rollers, where the basic design fails.

Alternatively you can also download the STL-files of 2 specific versions (48 rollers, or 10 rollers) from my Thingiverse project.