Gripping a diamond engraver in a collet chuck worked well enough, but the MPCNC’s pen holder lacks sufficient downforce and lateral stiffness. The bit has a chrome-ish plated 3 mm shank, so I tinkered up a mount for a pair of LM3UU linear bearings from the LM12UU drag knife holder:
The shank isn’t exactly a precision part, but a few licks with a diamond file knocked off enough of the high spots so it slides reasonably well through the bearings. The bearing alignment is more critical than a simple 3D printed plastic part can provide, so a real version may need bearings in a metal shaft press-fit into the plastic; brute-forcing the bearings into alignment sufficed for now.
The butt end of the shank press-fits into a disk held down with three springs, similar to the LM12UU mount:
It draws Guilloché patterns just fine:
I don’t like how the spring-around-screw motion works, even if it’s OK for small excursions.



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3 responses to “MPCNC Diamond Engraver: LM3UU Bearings, First Pass”
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