Toroidal Roller Bearings

Printable toroidal roller bearings. These bearings are like a cross between a cylindrical roller bearing and a deep groove ball bearing. They use a “barrel” shaped roller instead of a ball. This gives them the good radial load bearing capability of a cylindrical roller bearing plus the ability to withstand some axial load. They have tolerance for angular and axial misalignment.

I decided to design and print these bearings as the roller shape does not have shallow overhang issues that occur with balls. This allows the print to be done without supports. The experiment seems to have worked well!

To keep the rollers aligned I have included spacers between each roller. These are then held in place by 2 clip-on rings. This design also minimises the radial play of the bearing.

Current sizes:

• 30 ID x 62 OD x 10 deep
• 30 ID x 62 OD x 20 deep (C2206)
• 8 ID x 22 OD x 7 deep (608 equivalent)

To Print:

• Print the bearing plus 2 of the clip-on rings.
• Once printed check that each of the rollers and spacers move freely. A little tweaking with a knife or similar may be needed.
• Line up the pegs on the rings with the slots in the bearing spacers and gently press them into place. Be careful not to break the pegs, especially on the small 608 bearings.
• Attach the second ring to the other side of the bearing in the same manner.
• Hold the inner race and spin the outer race. A bit of load and spinning will result in a free-spinning, low-friction bearing

Notes:

• The smaller bearing (608 equivalent) needs to be printed with a 0.2 nozzle
• The larger bearings can be printed with a 0.4 nozzle
• I have successfully printed these using PLA and PETG. PLA bearing runs smoother, PETG is tougher but requires a bit more freeing up.
• Information on toroidal bearings (SKF) can be found here

Please let me know in the comments if you like this design and if you would like any specific sizes included.