Lubrication and hammering

Finally I cut most of the 8mm smooth rods. First I tried with hacksaw with bimetal blade but that was just polishing the shaft. So I ended up using Dremel with 0.4mm cutting wheel. Actually several wheels as they were some no-name cheap ones and many of them shattered. A good reason to use safety glasses.

With Y-axis rods done I was able to try out LM8UU the bearings. As mentioned earlier, I bought some very cheap ones and they definitely behaved like that. Replacing them with better ones or with IGUS is on my todo. I cleaned up the linear bearings and lubricated them with lithium based grease. As an afterthought the grease might have been a bit too thick and sticky for such small bearings.

Y-axis rods in place

After hammering the rods in place I also installed the first stepper motor. I bought a package of five stepper motors and they are all ACT Motor 17HS4417. They should be ok but I will see later how they perform. I don't expect very high acceleration for Y-axis as the build plate carriage is quite heavy even without any heatbed or glass. I will attach the belt as soon as I get some more printed parts for the carriage.

17HS4417 in place