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7x10, 7x12, 7x14 Mini-Lathe Information

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LINEAR BEARINGS AND GUIDES

Most CNC machines whether home-brewed or commercial may use linear bearings and guides to smoothly move assemblies in linear directions.

nsk-linear-guide-assembly

There are many manufacturers of these guides and bearings such as THK, IKO, Thomson/Danaher, NSK, INA and others. Each manufacturer has its own design and thus, bearings and guides are not interchangeable between manufacturers.

In addition, each manufacturer has not only size and material options, but perhaps most important, the type of bearing guide block to use.

There are also those with retained ball bearings, caged or uncaged - the latter being more noisy than the former - and those where the ball bearings simply fall out when removed from the guide.

We are writing this since we're planning on developing a bench-top mini-mill utilizing these components and those readily available from certain machine manufacturers to create a machine that is rigid, easy to assemble, and has the increased work envelope that exceeds the X2 and even X3 mills.

In our initial stage, we're simply gathering information on the components that will be used. Since precision and off-the-shelf availability (not to mention proven in many shops!) are some of the top criteria, these linear bearings and guides will be used.

One of the important block choices to make is that of rigidity in all directions. Thus, we will require bearings that have a "4-way" load capability. In addition, we've opted to find a manufacturer that is well-known, hence our decision to use THK's line of products. THK has two series of blocks suitable for our needs: SHS and HSR. The SHS series is their top-of-the-line, with caged balls and the 45 degree contact with the rails allowing for 4-way equal load (radial and lateral directions).

As for size, metric is the unit used and 15mm to 25mm sizes are ideal for the type of machine we want to build. Luckily for us, they are commonly found on places like eBay and local auction houses new and used.

We've provided a pricing chart below to give you a sense of the cost of such hardware - they're not cheap!

What exactly are the differences between the SHS/HSR (in other words, those with two rows of 45 degree contact bearings) versus the "standard" style with a single row of 90 degree contact bearings? Click here to see some examples.

 

Looking for mini-mill help and how-tos? How about lathe help and how-tos?

We're prototyping a benchtop CNC vertical mill using the DigiSpeed-XL interface card for Mach, Dart Controls and KB Electronics KBIC/KBMM 90VDC motor controllers, 1.5HP treadmill motor from Surplus Center and a R8-spindle head from the X2 mini-mill - not to mention Gecko servo drives and an entirely closed-loop system. Come take a look!

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BLOCK DESCRIPTION SHS15 SHS20 SHS25 SHS30 SHS35 SHS45
The mounting bolts can be inserted either from above or under the block.Same block dimensions as type HSR-A,B. SHS15C1SS  $79.00 SHS20C1SS  $87.00 SHS25C1SS  $103.00 SHS30C1SS  $117.00 SHS35C1SS  $125.00 SHS45C1SS  $176.00
This type has the same cross section as type SHS-C, but has a longer LM block. The longer LM block can carry ultra-heavy loads.   SHS20LC1SS  $102.00 SHS25LC1SS  $120.00 SHS30LC1SS  $135.00 SHS35LC1SS  $146.00 SHS45LC1SS  $204.00
Narrower LM block width and lower-profile than that of type SHS-C. Screw holes are tapped into the top of block surface for mounting. SHS15V1SS  $79.00 SHS20V1SS  $87.00 SHS25V1SS  $103.00 SHS30V1SS  $117.00 SHS35V1SS  $125.00 SHS45V1SS  $176.00
This type has the same cross section as type SHS-V, but has a longer LM block. The longer LM block can carry ultra-heavy loads.   SHS20LV1SS  $102.00 SHS25LV1SS  $120.00 SHS30LV1SS  $135.00 SHS35LV1SS  $146.00 SHS45LV1SS  $204.00
Narrower LM block width than that of type SHS-C. Screw holes are tapped into the top of block surface for mounting. Prepared by figNoggle Designs / www.fignoggle.com SHS25R1SS  $103.00 SHS30R1SS  $117.00 SHS35R1SS  $125.00 SHS45R1SS  $176.00
This type has the same cross section as type SHS-R, but has a longer LM block. The longer LM block can carry ultra-heavy loads. SHS25LR1SS  $120.00 SHS30LR1SS  $135.00 SHS35LR1SS  $146.00 SHS45LR1SS  $204.00
Under light preload. The mounting bolts can be inserted either from above or under the block. Same block dimensions as type HSR-A, B. SHS15C1SSC1  $83.00 SHS20C1SSC1  $91.00 SHS25C1SSC1  $108.00 SHS30C1SSC1  $123.00 SHS35C1SSC1  $131.00 SHS45C1SSC1  $185.00
This type has the same cross section as type SHS-C, but has a longer LM block. The longer LM block can carry ultra-heavy loads.   SHS20LC1SSC1  $107.00 SHS25LC1SSC1  $126.00 SHS30LC1SSC1  $142.00 SHS35LC1SSC1  $153.00 SHS45LC1SSC1  $214.00
Narrower LM block width and lower-profile than that of type SHS-C. Screw holes are tapped into the top of block surface for mounting. SHS15V1SSC1  $83.00 SHS20V1SSC1  $91.00 SHS25V1SSC1  $108.00 SHS30V1SSC1  $123.00 SHS35V1SSC1  $131.00 SHS45V1SSC1  $185.00
This type has the same cross section as type SHS-V, but has a longer LM block. The longer LM block can carry ultra-heavy loads.   SHS20LV1SSC1  $107.00 SHS25LV1SSC1  $126.00 SHS30LV1SSC1  $142.00 SHS35LV1SSC1  $153.00 SHS45LV1SSC1  $214.00
Narrower LM block width than that of type SHS-C. Screw holes are tapped into the top of block surface for mounting. SHS15R1SSC1  $83.00   SHS25R1SSC1  $108.00 SHS30R1SSC1  $123.00 SHS35R1SSC1  $131.00 SHS45R1SSC1  $185.00
This type has the same cross section as type SHS-R, but has a longer LM block. The longer LM block can carry ultra-heavy loads.   SHS25LR1SSC1  $126.00 SHS30LR1SSC1  $142.00 SHS35LR1SSC1  $153.00 SHS45LR1SSC1  $204.00
Narrower LM block width than that of type SHS-C. Screw holes are tapped into the top of block surface for mounting. SHS15R1SS  $79.00 Prepared by figNoggle Designs / www.fignoggle.com
RAIL LENGTH (mm) RAIL 15mm RAIL 20mm RAIL 25mm RAIL 30mm RAIL 35mm RAIL 45mm
160mm SHS15-160L  $42.00 Prepared by figNoggle Designs / www.fignoggle.com
220mm SHS15-220L  $50.00 SHS20-220L  $57.00 SHS25-220L  $67.00  
280mm SHS15-280L  $59.00 SHS20-280L  $68.00 SHS25-280L  $79.00 SHS30-280L  $88.00 SHS35-280L  $96.00  
340mm SHS15-340L  $70.00 SHS20-340L  $79.00 SHS25-340L  $90.00  
440mm   SHS30-440L  $119.00 SHS35-440L  $128.00  
460mm SHS15-460L  $95.00 SHS20-460L  $105.00 SHS25-460L  $112.00  
570mm   SHS45-570L  $200.00
600mm   SHS30-600L  $146.00 SHS35-600L  $162.00  
640mm SHS15-640L  $130.00 SHS20-640L  $143.00 SHS25-640L  $150.00  
700mm   SHS20-700L  $151.00  
760mm   SHS30-760L  $180.00 SHS35-760L  $193.00  
820mm SHS15-820L  $169.00 SHS20-820L  $183.00 SHS25-820L  $188.00  
885mm Prepared by figNoggle Designs / www.fignoggle.com SHS45-885L  $278.00
1000mm SHS15-1000L  $196.00 SHS20-1000L  $222.00 SHS25-1000L  $228.00 SHS30-1000L  $235.00 SHS35-1000L  $251.00  
1180mm   SHS25-1180L  $261.00  
1200mm   SHS45-1200L  $370.00
1240mm SHS15-1240L  $243.00 SHS20-1240L  $276.00 SHS25-1240L  $281.00 SHS30-1240L  $290.00 SHS35-1240L  $301.00  
1360mm   SHS25-1360L  $300.00 Prepared by figNoggle Designs / www.fignoggle.com
1600mm SHS15-1600L  $344.00 SHS20-1600L  $345.00 SHS25-1600L  $361.00
1620mm   SHS45-1620L  $495.00
1640mm   SHS30-1640L  $383.00 SHS35-1640L  $399.00  
2200mm   SHS20-2200L  $474.00 SHS25-2200L  $486.00  
2040mm   SHS30-2040L  $474.00 SHS35-2040L  $512.00 SHS45-2040L  $622.00
2460mm Prepared by figNoggle Designs / www.fignoggle.com SHS45-2460L  $750.00
2500mm SHS15-2500L  $538.00   SHS25-2500L  $573.00  
2520mm   SHS30-2520L  $602.00 SHS35-2520L  $666.00  
Courtesy of figNoggle Designs.