Surprise: Hardcoat Anodized MakerSlide

Hardcoad Black Anodized MakerSlideI am ready to reveal the surprise: black hardcoat anodized MakerSlide (known as Type III in the US).  The coating withstands contact with steel V-wheels.

Not only tough, but also gorgeous!

The 1 m pieces are in the store; I’m adding 375 mm, 500 mm and 750 mm pieces as we speak.  One metre is the longest length available hard coated.

We also have a new MakerSlide carriage plate, with hole patterns that work with our chrome steel V-groove bearings.

Coming in September, a hardcoat-and-steel-wheels upgrade for the eShapeOko.

12 thoughts on “Surprise: Hardcoat Anodized MakerSlide

  1. Will the anodiced ones be in the new batch of the eShapeOko or can they be added for extra costs or need to bought seperaly?
    Thanks 🙂

  2. That’s great news!
    If I’d want to upgrade my complete ShapeOko (not eShapeOko) to steel wheels with anodized makerslide, do I need replace the motor mount plates? Do you sell those separately?

  3. On a side note, why are your steel wheels different in size from the delrin wheels?
    If I’d buy the steel wheels form openbuild, they are a direct replacement?
    I have a big order ready for you, so don’t worry, I’m just trying to figure out how I’d best upgrade to steel wheels.

    • It’s very expensive to make a new type of bearing. What I did was take an existing bearing (the industry-standard RM1 dual-row angular-contact V-groove bearing) and had the inside diameter customized (5mm, instead of the standard 3/16″, or about 4.76mm). That was much more affordable.
      The single-piece wheel is more solid than one made of a sleeve and separate bearings, but has the disadvantage of being a different size.
      The steel wheels from OpenBuilds are a direct replacement for the Delrin wheels — you can even use the same bearings.

    • Well, I had to stop somewhere. The longer they are, the more likely they are to be damaged in production or shipping to us. 1m seemed like a good size. We have only a small quantity, too — it’s more of a test run, to see how it goes. If it sells well, there will be another run, and I can add 1.2 m to the range. I definitely don’t want to have 2 m in hardcoat, because any damage means a fairly large loss.

  4. Would you say that using steel wheels makes the double x rail obsolete?
    I’m deciding between doing the double x axis with delrin wheel, just replacing the delrin wheels with steel ones (but keeping one x rail), or both…

    • I don’t honestly know. I’m sure the dual-X is more rigid, but I don’t know by how much. My guess is that it’s still worth going for the dual-X, even with steel wheels.

      I plan to do an experiment comparing single hardcoated MakerSlide, dual hardcoated MakerSlide, and hardcoated OpenRail on HFS5-4040 profile. I’ll compare our standard V-wheels, the OpenBuilds steel dual-bearing wheels, and our single-piece industrial V-wheels. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll have time for that until September.

      • Personnaly, I think that the dual x rail will be more stable and rigid than any single rail setup. This is what I ordered.

        And idea, I could make aluminium V-groove wheels for delrin replacement at my local hackerspace’s lathe. That would not wear the rails, but still be more robust that plastic, what do you think?

        • Sounds like a good idea to me. I’m not an engineer, but I think the warning of not using the same material in a system with friction (e.g. leadscrew and leadnut) doesn’t apply to V-wheels (not the same type of friction).

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