Smooth rod
Vitamin
| Smooth metal rod, used as axis. | |
| Wikipedia | none |
A smooth rod is a metal rod usually used on the axis for components such as the X-carriage or print bed to slide on. The most commonly used type of smooth rod is stainless steel M8 (8 mm diameter). Stainless steel is a pretty hard steel, and doesn't rust, making them ideal to slide bearings on.
Not all rods are created equal, and lower quality rods might be too small or too big by a fraction of a millimeter, which will cause problems with the bearings. Ensure that your rods hace the correct diameter, or when buying, ensure that they are M8 with about H6 tolerance.
Smoothing the smooth rod
If the finish of your smooth rods is too rough, you can smooth it up by carefully sanding the surface with an 800 grit wet & dry abrasive paper, then a 1200 grit paper. Then put the final polish on the rod using metal polishing paste (the same stuff as what people use to polish their car wheels). In about two hours you'll have all your rods polished.
Vendors
| Vendor (shipping location) | Product | Diameter | Length | Tolerance | Material | Additional notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ridings et Dafrodis (FR) | Ronds Pleins | 3-30 mm | 1000 mm | Inox 316L | ||
| HPC Europe (FR/IT) | Shaft for linear guidance | 5-80 mm | 1000 mm | H6 | Cf53 hardened | |
| Motedis (FR) | Arbre acier | 6 mm | 5-200 mm | Cf53 hardened | ||
| Technobots (UK) | Silver Steel | 2-30 mm | 333 mm | |||
| ULM Technologie (FR) | Tube acier inox | 8-60 mm | 1000 mm | Inox 304 | It is possible to indicate a cutting length in the comment area of the cart just before finalizing the order. | |
| VXB (US) | Rod Linear Motion] | 8 mm | 762 mm |
