Binding in my Hiwin Rails and bearings?

[wendtmk]

Just how easy should the bearings move down the rails? I've got a gantry with four 15 series bearings mounted, two per side, running on two 6' rails. It seems to take quite a bit of effort to push the gantry one way or the other. First time I've worked with this style of bearing, and I'm not really sure how "stiff" these bearings should feel. I'm thinking they're a bit too "stiff" and I have some kind of binding.

Thanks,
Mark

[spoiledbrat]

Mine have a small amount of friction, but once movement is started, it should take a very light force to move the carriage.

You can loosen the hardware on one rail, and see if the condition improves. If so, your rails were not parallel.

Rob

[wendtmk]

Okay, my worries were for nothing. Come to find out the "stiffness" was caused by snugging up the turnbuckle a wee bit too much on the CNCrouterparts pinion mechanism. Backed off a bunch on that, and the "stiffness" was much less. Disconnecting the pinions from the rack completely and moving the gantry by hand (quite easily) was what clued me into this. Doh!

Thanks for the response Spoiled!

Mark