Maintenance-free linear guide in the XY positioner "MaXYposi"

• What was needed:  drylin W linear guides
• Requirements: lubrication-free, robust, modular, cost-effective
• Industries: circuit board processing; XY positioners
• Success for the customer: thanks to the lubrication-free operation of the linear rails, the linear robot works reliably despite the dust generated during circuit board production. There are also significant cost advantages compared to recirculating ball bearing guides with steel shafts.

With the MaXYposi XY positioner, Make Magazine created a simple solution that is equally suitable for DIY enthusiasts and professionals.
The MaXYposi is primarily intended to serve as the basis for self-built CNC machines for drilling and fitting circuit boards, laser-cutting, plotting, cutting and milling. However, it can also be found in other fields such as laboratories, where it is used in sample handling, for example.
Driven by a pulley-driven toothed belt, it is five to ten times faster than lead-screw-driven devices and twice as strong and accurate as linear robots with a single toothed belt.
In order to be as easy to replicate as possible, the development of the universal solution required components that were modular, but also economical and fail-safe.
However, the biggest problem with the design was the aggressive dust generated by drilling and milling circuit boards, which quickly finds its way to the linear technology of the XY positioner.

With drylin W rails as linear guides on the X- and Y-axes, the positioner from Make Magazin can now also be used without any problems for producing circuit boards. The decisive design feature of the linear bearing is its sliding elements, which are made of the special iglidur plastic. For one thing, they slide without lubrication and are therefore easy to maintain. For another, they are not susceptible to the resulting dust. Where no external lubricant is used, by-products such as dust and milled parts are also less likely to adhere.
In addition, the price of linear plain bearings with aluminium rails offers significant cost advantages over recirculating ball bearing linear guides with steel shafts.
The drylin W rails are also self-supporting given the compact dimensions of the machine. The design is simple and therefore also suitable for young DIY enthusiasts. The aluminium glide bars are easy to machine and lightweight. The mechanics of the machines cost less than €100.