Y carriage function / removal

Hello,

I'm bulding my second printer - custom 150^3 loosely based on prusa i3. (1st one was mendel90 with some modifications over the years).

I have technical question about Y carriage function. As I'm planning to not having it at all =D Due to make heatbed as light as possible. The problem is I've searched different forums and couldn't find the possible drawbacks of this approach. My current printer uses superheavy ac powered heatbed that I normally use, so I have no experience on that side of weight. Now I need to have something small, light and accurate. I'm afraid that trying to get rid of Y carriage may result in unexpected problems... that will have word "warping" in the sentence =]

Is Y carriage necessary? As I would like to make heatbed to function as y carriage on its own. What do you think?

(I'm thinking about custom 3mm alu heatbed with intergrated heater, and insulation beneath. Bearrings or attaching GT belt won't be a problem for me)

Thanks,
shezmu

Normally, the locations and alignment of the bearings in a linear motion system are critical for proper function. If you mount them directly on the heated plate, the plate will expand when heated, shifting the bearings. Also, the bearings/lubricants probably are not rated for operation at bed temperatures unless you're buying special parts that are. Then there's the problem of mounting the bearings to the heater that covers the bottom of the plate. I suppose you could use some high temperature glue, but I wouldn't expect the surface of the heater to be flat enough to provide alignment of the bearings. You won't be able to adjust the leveling of the bed (unless you make the bearing mounts adjustable) so you'll have to use autoleveling.

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Ultra MegaMax Dominator 3D printer: [drmrehorst.blogspot.com]