Is it better to have bearing flats on your dr4b joints as shown below or just screw then in directly?
Always use a bearing on something that moves. Only exception would be a gear/sprocket moving on a screw. Also, given your picture above, you can eliminate the bearing on the upright by locking the screw in place using a nut(s).
Ok thanks
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If the joint is carrying a lot of load, I would use bearings. If it is not, then a screw with a washer on each side and in the middle is enough.
the bearing makes it so the screw goes through the center of the hole and reduces a lot of slop so I think doing bearings on all joints is worth it if you have room
Bearings also keep the metal around the holes from getting damaged. This is less of a problem with steel, but aluminum starts to disappear quickly once a load bearing screw thread is twisting around inside of it
I’m looking back at this thread and realizing how braindead I must have been to even ask this…
Looking again at that picture, my teams do a combination of both. We lock the screw to one side of the joint, only using bearings on the side that moves around the screw. If that makes sense to you.