A lot of misinformation in this thread, along with some correct statements.
- The V-wheels shipped by Inventables are delrin.
- Steel V-wheels will fairly quickly destroy aluminum makerslide. Even hard anodized aluminum cannot handle steel v-wheels for long, and the makerslide from inventables is NOT hard anodized.
- The polycarbonate V-wheels from Openbuilds (the ones which were compatible with Makerslide) are out of stock because they do not work. While hard polycarbonate sounds like a good idea, it turns out that they cracked and split when too much pressure was applied to them. And the whole point of them was to handle tighter adjusting. From what I hear, there may still be some work trying to fix the polycarbonate approach, but until they are redesigned, reformulated and tested, they will not be available.
- Do not confuse v-wheels with āSolid v-wheelsā. They are a design with the slope on the outside, and do not have the problem of concentrated force at the apex of the V. Hence they can be made from polycarbonate. However, they are NOT Makerslide compatible. Rather they run on Openbuilds āV-slotā linear rail only.
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To add another parameter to the equation:
Inventablesā V wheels are dual cone, 7.5mm thick, partly cover the bearings.
Openbuildās V wheels are quad cone, 10.23mm thick, fully cover the bearings.
Hereās an ascii visual 
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The latter design should theoretically flex less.
EDIT:
partly as 65%, fully as 92.3% since they both use a 1mm precision shim inside
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Well, I look forward to a better solution. I have noticed this flex with the v-wheels and I believe that is the reason a never get a good circular hole. They are always small in the x direction.
When are you thinking the improvement update will be available?
Now thatās very interesting! Huh, might just be time to look at upgrading to C-Beam. Bonus for being able to make it a lot stiffer, too, particularly the X gantry. I think at this rate, though, Iām going to end up having just built my own X-Carve-ish router. lol
Iāve been particularly getting flexing and motion on my Z axis, mostly front-to-back that I canāt quite work out. Should be interesting to play with!
The wheels I was thinking of using are these
RM2ZZ 3/8 V Groove Guide Bearing Shielded Ball Bearings https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002BBGO6U/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_Acpixb0HBP0RF
They will wear the aluminum but not a rate that i am worried about.
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I am curious about the c Chanel yāall are talking about. Does anyone have a link to a set up so I can check it out?
Wow, I believe that is the direction Iām headed as well
The plan Iāve been tossing around is to more or less entirely re-build the X-Carve, using the same motors and controller, but basically replacing everything else. C-Beam axes with polycarbonate wheels, doubled for the X gantry into a box with straps on top and bottomā¦ Itāll basically be an entirely new and far stronger machine. I might swap belts and pulleys at the same time, havenāt quite decided on that one.
If you havenāt gone to 9mm wide GT2 belts, start there. Itās the new biggest bang-for-the-buck upgrade (used to be metal spacers in the SO1 days).
Whereād you snag your pulleys and belts? OpenBuilds doesnāt stock them that I see.
I had the same issue with the Z-axis. After playing with the adjustemnts for a while, I finally gave up and I bought a new Z-Axis with dual posts on eBay for $140.00 or so with the coupler to set the Stepper motor on top:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/162000434706?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
I removed the old Z-Axis and installed the new one and itās been perfect! My cuts are straight and smooth now.
I lost some height with the new Z-Axis, but I can still work on 1 3/4" thick material.
Well thatās pretty darn cool. If that has decent linear bearings, I can see that being a real benefit!
This was by far the best upgrade I did on my table. Inventables should really think to modify their design and use a better z-axis.
Hereās a picture of my unit installed with my new spindle:
I made several upgrades. I replaced the Arduino base controller with the DSP base controller:
https://www.inventables.com/technologies/3-axis-dsp-based-digital-stepper-driver
I replaced the small stepper motors with bigger ones. I almost never have to re-home the spindle with the new stepper motors.
I also setup an old Windows base computer and installed MACH3 software.
Next big thing to upgrade will probably be the X & Y axis with this kit:
http://www.motiontek.ca/cncrouterkit.html
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Next step, upgrade to Linuxcnc. 
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Did you consider locating the z-stepper behind the new slide, to reduce height, re-using some of the parts from the Inventables z-stage? My workspace is height constrained.
It was easier for me to install it on top with the supplied spacers. You would need a custom made 90degrees bracket to be able to install the motor behind the new slide, the existing bracket for it wouldnāt work on this new slide. I did had to reverse polarity on the stepper motor with this setup.
I wonder which one is stiffer the linear bearing eBay kit or the c-beam set up from open builds?
The linear bearing kit is working perfectly for me. Hereās a picture of a cut using the old V-wheels Z-Axis and a picture of a cut using the new linear bearing Z-Axis. You can see the cut is not 90degrees perfect in the first picture. The angle is the result of the V-wheels loosing up. The second picture shows a perfect 90degrees cut. Iām cutting 3/8" acrylic pieces. Check the hood props I cut using my Inventables table with the linear bearing Z-Axis here:
https://klodus-performance.myshopify.com/collections/all
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