3D Printed Bearing With Driven Miter Gear

This is a continuation of my 3D Printed Bearing Instructable. I needed a way to slowly rotate the bearing, here's how I did it.

Step 1: 3D Print the Parts

I printed these part on an Objet 500 Connex printer. I printed them in Veroclear so I could see through all the parts.

Step 2: Order the Hardware and the Motor

I use McMaster Carr for most of my small parts. Especially if your quantities are small and you need a quick delivery time.

96415K71 316 Stainless Steel Precision Ball, 1/8" Diameter

94150A305 Metric Type 316 Stainless Steel Hex Nut, M2 Size, .4mm Pitch, 4mm Width, 1.6mm Height

90116A007 Metric 316 Stainless Steel Pan Head Phillips Machine Screw, M2 Size, 3mm Length, .4mm Pitch

90116A020 Metric 316 Stainless Steel Pan Head Phillips Machine Screw, M2 Size, 10mm Length, .4mm Pitch

92000A001 Metric 316 Stainless Steel Pan Head Phillips Machine Screw, M1.6 Size, 3mm Length, .35mm Pitch

The motor is from Pololu.

1095 250:1 Micro Metal Gearmotor

Step 3: Slide Nuts Into Nut Pockets

If you cleaned the parts properly the nuts should slide into the nut pockets. If there's still support material in the nut pockets you'll have to remove it.

Step 4: Fill the Race With Bearings

Place the outer race over the bevel gear and roll in the bearings.

Step 5: Fasten the Inner Race

Using the M2 X 3MM fasteners secure the inner race to the bevel gear.

Step 6: Attach the Motor to the Motor Adapter

Use the M1.6 X 3MM screws to secure the adapter bracket to the motor.

Step 7: Press the Drive Gear Onto the Motor Shaft

Press the drive gear onto the motor shaft. The gear should flush with the end of the shaft.

Step 8: Place the Motor Adaptor Nuts

Pick any two adjacent nut pockets and fill them with the M2 nuts.

Step 9: Secure the Motor Adapter

Use the M2 X 10MM fasteners to secure the motor adapter to the outer race of the bearing.

Step 10: Motor Controller

I tried a few different motor controllers for this project. I ended up using the Fingertech tinyESC as it was the smallest motor controller that I could find.

Comments

[Kafukai]

Amazing!

Who would believe that people can repair things nowadays out of plastic?! 3D printers will bring a new technology in the next 5-10 years for any person in the world, and you my freind just begun this revolution. This part was made so well and right, even if you would cast it into a mold like the OEM part you wouldn't shame any firm that casting parts. Good job I want to see more this in the future.

[tsalpha]

Very nice project, well organized! I used McMaster Carr all the time. They're not the cheapest, but they have free downloadable models for just about everything they sell. Does the project have a specific purpose? It looks like the gear motor may spin at a very low rpm, bevel gear would spin even slower. Thanks for posting this.

[Salvagione]

Thank you for the kind words. This and my previous instructables are all part of a larger project I'm working on. I'm testing different ways to actuate mechanisms. You're correct this assembly is low load and low RPM.

[coolcom5]

Great tutorial. Is is adaptable to higher RPM (eg 1000rpm) ?

[Salvagione]

Hmm, not easily. Heat, lubrication, balance, etc. At that speed you'll want to use ground metallic races and balls. You could redesign the mechanism to use a deep groove cartridge bearing and 3d print the parts in metal. I would look into using a small outrunner motor from the RC airplane world. I used this motor, https://www.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXXJW4&P=ML, on this project, https://www.instructables.com/id/String-Fountain/. You'll also see the final use of the 3D printed bearing in that project, I ended up driving it with a servo.

[steveap]

Great pics, great info. A suggestion: add some oblique pictures when the form is complex, and use an offset flash (for shadowing, it looks like you're using a ring flash). It took me a bit to realize the layers/depths, shapes, and how they came together.
Great work, it's inspiring!

[RienW]

Thank you very very much. I have been looking for this for quite some time. This will help me make a pan & tilt camera head. No more shaking videos trying to keep my camera steady. Greetings from Amsterdam. Rien

[Salvagione]

Rien, keep me posted, I'd love to see what you make. Greetings from San Francisco, Paolo

[RayP1]

Sorry I was late in asking this, but every stl file generates a "vector3 not found" when I try to generate a gcode file using Skienforge. Slic3r generates only about 4 layers of gcode and stops. I've tried to figure out a fix for this, but have been unable. Any idea what the problem using Skienforge might be?

[Salvagione]

Hmm, they appear to work for me. I'm not familiar with Skienforge, can you open other stl files? Are you only having problems with my files?

[RayP1]

Just these files. Are you using something other than Slic3r to convert to gcode?

[Salvagione]

What printer are you printing on? Unless you scale the parts up the features are too small for a Makerbot. I printed the parts on an Objet 500.

[RayP1]

I'm doing it on a solidoodle, so I knew that the parts needed to be changed around.

[Salvagione]

I'm able to open the stl files in Meshmixer and with the Makerbot software. I'm not familiar with Slic3r so I'm unable to advise you.

[RayP1]

Well I'm not sure what the Makerbot software is. I installed Meshmixer and it opens the .stl file just fine (as does Slic3r.) I can't see any way to export that file as gcode though. I'm not having a problem reading it, just in converting into gcode, so that my printer can use it.

[Salvagione]

That's what the slicer does. Meshmixer has a built in slicer, as does Makerbot, You'll have to find a slicer that works with your machine.

[a-morpheus]

I'm not sure but I think the bevel gear .stl file might be missing?

[Salvagione]

Good catch. You'll find it there now.

[studleylee]

I would love to see a short video of this spinning. Great work!

[fstedie]

yeah, amazing what you can do with a $100K 3D printer. I'd love for someone to try this on a Makerbot...