Artillery Sidewinder X2 Improved Tri-Bearing Idler Arm

A better idler arm that uses two bearings on the motor shaft for extra stability.
10
43
0
371
updated July 2, 2023

Description

PDF

The stock idler arm on the Artillery Sidewinder X2 has a lot of play to it, causing uneven extrusions and jams/stalls.  I designed this replacement after trying a lot of the other redesigns and not being happy with the results.  This one uses two 5x9x3mm ball bearings (which will need to be purchased separately) instead of one on the motor shaft, adding a lot of extra stability/rigidity.  It also has a cutaway to prevent the filament drive gear from rubbing against the idler arm, and it's spaced perfectly w/ the spacer washer to prevent lateral movement on the motor shaft (at least on my setup).  

The spacer washer prevents the idler arm from wearing on the motor pinyon gear, and the bearing end cap is pressed in by the body/heatsink, keeping the second bearing in place (see the pictures for reference).  I also printed two more of the spacer washers and used them between the pinyon gear and the motor to keep the two from moving together and rubbing (this dumb extruder doesn't have a set screw on this gear).  

Rotate it 180 degrees so the flat part is on the build plate, and use supports.  I printed several of these at infills from 50% to 100% and they all seem to work fine.  Use small drill bits to carefully clear out excess lumps from the holes.  

For reference, the extra bearings I bought were 5mm ID, 9mm OD, and 3mm tall.  I got rubber-sealed ones instead of shielded for better longevity.  

 

Edit 2023/7/2: The original version's alignment to the extruder gear teeth was a little off, so I tweaked it and uploaded a new “better alignment” version of these files.  This is what I'm using now in my X2 and it seems to be working well.  

Tags



Model origin

The author marked this model as their own original creation.

License