Hex Race Caster Bearing

Description

Load-adaptive.
All printed.

A heavy-duty caster bearing built entirely from printed geometry and 1.75mm nylon filament. No purchased bearing inserts. No metal races. The hexagonal intermediate race geometry distributes load across defined contact flats — growing stronger under the loads it is designed to carry.

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Three components.
One torus.

• 01

  Outer Race — The Wheel

  Printed in gray PLA, the outer race is the rolling surface that contacts the floor. Its interior bore is octagonal or decagonal — not circular. This polygon profile is the defining geometric choice: under radial load, the flat faces of the polygon press against the filament torus, distributing contact force across a flat area rather than concentrating it at a point as a circular bore would.

• 02

  Intermediate Hex Race — The Load Distributor

  The black intermediate element sits between the outer race and the inner shaft insert. Its exterior is hexagonal, presenting six defined contact flats to the filament torus rows. Its interior carries the hexagonal shaft bore. This is the element that makes the bearing load-adaptive: as radial force increases, the flat contacts widen in engagement, increasing contact area proportionally rather than inducing stress concentration.

• 03

  Filament Torus Rows — The Bearing Element

  Four rows of 1.75mm nylon filament are loaded tangentially through four independent entry ports in the outer housing. Each forms a continuous closed torus running the full circumference between the housing race and the intermediate hex element. Four rows provide axial load distribution across the bearing width, enabling the assembly to carry loads that a single-row configuration could not sustain without lateral tipping.

• 04

  Assembly — Topology-Locked, Tool-Free

  Once all four filament tori are inserted and their entry ports sealed with printed plugs, the bearing is permanently assembled. No adhesive. No screws. No press fit that relies on material interference. The filament tori physically cannot exit their closed channels without destroying the channel geometry. Disassembly is impossible — which is precisely the correct design criterion for a load-bearing caster.