Prusa MK3(S) Improved Y-Carriage

Last crawled date: 4 years, 3 months ago

This is a long needed improvement to the Prusa MK3(S) Y-carriage design. The problem with the old design is that it only relied on one linear bearing on the right side. This can cause minor torsion that can cause problems such as inconsistent skew, minor jerking of the carriage. It just makes sense to have a symmetrical bearing layout.
Once properly installed, the skew of my X/Y axis changed from .17 degrees to .03 degrees. I installed Igus bearings with sleeves (part no. RJZM-02-08) and threw away the cheap bearings that Prusa uses. Just make sure you clean the rods well and use a very light coat of silicone on the rods. The printer in normal mode with Igus bearings is now quieter than it was in stealth mode using the Prusa supplied bearings.
The STL file is not intended to be 3D printed. It is just a visual representation. I used eMachineShop to have my carriage fabricated. That is why I also included the DXF file. A material thickness of 6.4 mm should be used (the American 6.35 mm / 0.25" equivalent works fine).
The only holes that are not threaded are the ones for the U-bolts that hold the bearings. All other holes should be drilled/tapped for M3x0.5.