CNC Information and Projects

Skate, 608, bearings have served well on DIY CNC machines.
They are inexpensive, and are available from sports shops and online suppliers.

Experience here has been that bearings with any ABEC rating will work. Bearings that are sold as only "608 Bearings" can be low quality.

Bearings can be shielded with metal or sealed with plastic. They seem to hold up similarly. Both types may need to be cleaned and lubricated over time.

The plastic seals can be easier to remove and re-install than metal shields.

This unit was designed to tension against the rails, and to allow clearance for a rail support.

It uses an offset on one bearing that is twisted to tighten the bearing against the rail.

It is  made by tapping a threaded rod off-center into the head of another bolt.
This works well, but it takes a while to build, and requires welding.

This was an attempt to keep things as simple as possible.

It gains its tension by flexing the aluminum supports.

Unfortunately the aluminum is too soft to hold tension well.

Were one leg fixed, with the other left as 1/8 inch aluminum, the system would hold tension.
The single flexible leg would always keep the bearings tensioned without the risk of overloading.

This truck was made from a section of 2x4. The 2x4 is ripped at 30° (it is 60° from the horizontal) as shown below.
One piece is flipped end to end so it mirrors the other. Right images.

Holes A, B and C are drilled.

A is for a threaded rod that holds the top bearing. It also ties the blocks together.

Hole B is drilled small enough for the bearing's bolt to be tightly screwed into the wood; the wood acts as a nut.

Hole C is oversized so the bolt can wobble in it. This allows for tensioning adjustment against the pipe-rail.
The head is recessed to clear the top of the wood block so the block can be attached to its axis. Bottom image.

All bearings are held fast by nuts tightened firmly on each side.

In the top image a small bolt head protrudes from the side of the block.
This bolt is threaded into the wood. It serves as a tensioner that presses against the bearing's axle (bolt C), and tensions the bearing against the rail.
This bolt makes it much easier to adjust the bearing before tightening bolt C.

This truck is made of 3/4 inch plastic.
The purpose of this exercise was to see what design modifications were required when a thinner material was used.
The only difference is threading the right block for the A axle since there is no room for the axle bolts to cross.

This is an aluminum version that is used on the 4 x 8 machine.

These trucks are solid and work well, but they take a fair amount of time to build.

A routed 2x4 served as a rail support on the trial machine.

Another bearing system was a pipe that supported channels, which held the bearings.

The bearings were placed 120° apart around the pipe; in this image only two bearing channels are visible.
Play was removed by tightening the nuts on the studs. The studs were soldered into the copper pipe.

The system does not permit supported rails, which is a deal breaker for aggressive cutting.

These slides were made of PVC male adapters and conduit.

The threaded section of the male adapters was cut so the caps, which were cut down to rings, could tension the adapters around the conduit.

The plastic has to be plumbing fittings rather than electrical fittings. Plumbing fittings have tapered threads, which permit the tension adjustment.

The adapters were glued to PVC pipe and held in place with conduit straps.

The 3/4 and 1/2 inch EMT conduits just happened to fit inside the plumbing fittings.

This system worked remarkably well, but the parts' price added up quickly.
Surprisingly, skate bearings are cheaper.

Also, the units would freeze when left dormant, and the tension of the threaded rings would have to be readjusted.

This system gave a satisfactory quality of work after adjustments were made. However, the rails could not be supported, which limited the table size.

Commercial bearing blocks on supported rails were tried on one of the prototypes.

They were a disappointment. The rails arrived bent, the travel felt gritty and they were challenging to align.

They are frequently used, but when price is considered, I prefer other systems.

V bearings are ten times the price of skate bearings.
They perform well when firmly tensioned against their rails.

Wood does not support this high tension as well as metal does. The rails also need to be rigid, and aluminum rails are too soft for good long term performance.

Patio door V bearings were tested as a low cost substitute. Their loose tolerances made them unsuitable.