by bdring » Mon May 24, 2010 12:52 pm
I am familiar with the construction of those bearings.
I was doubtful too of the dual bearing idea until I tried it. There is some axial play, but way less than I thought there would be. As long as the axial play does not increase the rolling resistance significantly and does not change over time, it may work. My initial concern is wear on the track, not in the bearing. The track is available with hardened rolling surfaces, but that might not be needed. The track may only require a break in period. Who knows. I may make test section an run a couple hundred hours on it.
I would never use this on a heavy CNC router, but on something where the load is a couple of pounds at most
An old boss would say when this when someone tried to shoot down a new idea.
"In God we trust, all all others...bring data"
Bart
"If you didn't build it, you will never own it."