FolgerTech FT 5 Rail to Smooth Rod Modification

This is a modification of the FT 5 to use 2x 8mm smooth chrome rods and 2x linear bearings instead of the rails that come standard with the kit. This modification only affects the Y-axis motion, the X axis remains a rail based movement.

I was having binding issues and Y axis skipping from excessive friction on the rails. I find this to be much smoother motion and generally quieter. This modification requires only minimal hardware and new parts.

You will need 2x 8mm smooth chrome rods 400mm-ish in length, 2 linear bearings, some M5 bolts with T nuts, and M3 bolts x 12mm with nuts and locking washers. I got my rods and linear bearings off Amazon, I scavenged the M5 with T-nuts from the FT5 kit and back panel and M3 bolts from Lowes so material wise it's not hard to resource.

I printed the smooth rod holders and modified FT7 and FT10 parts from PETG and they are so far holding up well. ABS should also work well from what I hear but I have no experience printing with that material. I fear PLA might be too brittle. No supports needed either. The linear bearings snap right into the modified FT7 and FT10 parts but there is a space to firmly secure with a zip tie. Also note that one of the smooth rod holders is about 3mm thinner to allow it to sit next to the stock Y end stop holder. The other 3 rod holders are the same.

Assembly took about 2-3 hours to disassemble and reassemble. One word of caution is to hand tighten the M3 bolts on the smooth rod holders as not much tension is needed to keep the rods in place.

Special thanks to lilmikey for posting his Folgertech FT5 parts, made this modification easier!

You can see the modification in action at https://youtu.be/Jes1HKSBJ0g

I welcome any design feedback on improving this mod.

*** Update - Because I apparently am an idiot the files for the smooth rod holders lead to bad prints because the didn't all sit level with each other. I have fixed the bug and adding the separated files to one print job will now result in them all printing level.

-