I stumbled upon something potentially useful for the future. Basically I was looking at types of aluminium extrusion, wondering if you could do some sort of wheel based rail, without needing to attach something like openrail, or use expensive openbeam/makerbeam type extrusions.
Today I found these: [www.motedis.co.uk]
They fit inside the 8mm gap of a standard 20mm x 20mm t-slot (the Bosch/Rexroth stuff). They're a bit pricey when you add delivery, but theoretically you could use 4 (or maybe even just 2?) and create a track on the sides of the standard 20mm beam. Because they are plastic, and they'll be running on the actual beam gap they should be significantly quieter, and not cause damage to the aluminium, which is from what I can tell, a bit of an issue with standard bearings.
I think to begin with I'll probably just use the standard metal bearing option that Andy's used on the Cherry Pi, but might have to have a go with the rollers at some point!
Today I found these: [www.motedis.co.uk]
They fit inside the 8mm gap of a standard 20mm x 20mm t-slot (the Bosch/Rexroth stuff). They're a bit pricey when you add delivery, but theoretically you could use 4 (or maybe even just 2?) and create a track on the sides of the standard 20mm beam. Because they are plastic, and they'll be running on the actual beam gap they should be significantly quieter, and not cause damage to the aluminium, which is from what I can tell, a bit of an issue with standard bearings.
I think to begin with I'll probably just use the standard metal bearing option that Andy's used on the Cherry Pi, but might have to have a go with the rollers at some point!