igus products defy dust for Routout

The linear guide system uses polymer sliding bearings that run on a hard anodised aluminium rail, giving a low friction and wear resistant linear slide. In the Routout application, the bearings are used to support the router cutting head and the carriage, allowing the cutting head to move rapidly, smoothly and accurately along the X, Y and Z axes.

Eliminating lubrication is a crucial benefit in the Routout application since oils and greases tend to combine with the fine wood dust produced by the routing process to create a sticky grinding paste that is hard to remove and quickly impairs machine performance. In contrast, as the igus bearings and guides are designed to operate dry, without the use of lubricants, their performance is completely unaffected by the presence of the dust. Further benefits are that the lubricant-free bearings and guide requires no maintenance, and that the possibility of the workpiece being contaminated by oil or grease is eliminated.

“We have been using igus products in our machines for some time as we found that conventional bearings and slides were very rapidly affected by the dust that is inevitably produced during routing,” said Michael Gaylor of Routout CNC. “Since we switched to igus bearings and slides, these problems have been entirely eliminated and I can honestly say that, although we must by now have used hundreds of igus products, we haven’t had a single failure. That has to be good news for us, and for our customers.”