Scioly.org

iwonder wrote:Yeah, pillow blocks, the company I buy them from groups them under mounted bearings, so I just call anything like that(flange mount and others also) mounts bearings.

iwonder wrote:Oh... We get them for about $17 a piece... You have to realize that we put about $100 into our vehicle last year, $80 in bearings(impregnated bronze, big mistake) and wheels.

So this is just a dream at the moment, but has anyone ever seen/thought about using magnetic bearings in gravity vehicle? Ones of this size(1/8"-1/4") seem feasable with permanent magnets, I'm just wondering if they would be worth it...

http://www.pitsco.com/store/detail.aspx?ID=2604 <- from the mousetrap vehicle thread

illusionist wrote:How do you mount the bearings to the chassis? My thought is to use a block that is mounted underneath the chassis, with a hole large enough for the OD of the bearing to fit in. With this method though, I'd imagine that the bearing would fall out of the block when braking occurs.

After looking through last year's thread, I found this response from Balsa Man about the topic:
"You set up bearing holders so that that the outside diameter of the bearings fits snugly into them, and the inside diameter of the bearings fits snugly on the axle. A way to do bearing carriers is use a piece of some kind of bar- aluminum, plexi, or lexan. For instance, we are using 1/8th axles, with ¼” o.d. bearings, 1/8th” wide. Bearing holders are ½” x 1/8th lexan bar, with slots filed in ¼” wide x ¼” deep. The tricky part with a live axle is getting/making sure the axle is straight; if its not, you will get wobble, which will cause vibration at speed, and movement of the bearings (or if the bearings are tightly held, binding)."

You say that the bearings are 1/8" wide, and that the bearing holder is 1/8", yet you drill a hole that is 1/4" deep in a 1/8" wide bar? I might be misunderstanding it. Can you please clarify?

Balsa Man wrote:

illusionist wrote:How do you mount the bearings to the chassis? My thought is to use a block that is mounted underneath the chassis, with a hole large enough for the OD of the bearing to fit in. With this method though, I'd imagine that the bearing would fall out of the block when braking occurs.

After looking through last year's thread, I found this response from Balsa Man about the topic:
"You set up bearing holders so that that the outside diameter of the bearings fits snugly into them, and the inside diameter of the bearings fits snugly on the axle. A way to do bearing carriers is use a piece of some kind of bar- aluminum, plexi, or lexan. For instance, we are using 1/8th axles, with ¼” o.d. bearings, 1/8th” wide. Bearing holders are ½” x 1/8th lexan bar, with slots filed in ¼” wide x ¼” deep. The tricky part with a live axle is getting/making sure the axle is straight; if its not, you will get wobble, which will cause vibration at speed, and movement of the bearings (or if the bearings are tightly held, binding)."

You say that the bearings are 1/8" wide, and that the bearing holder is 1/8", yet you drill a hole that is 1/4" deep in a 1/8" wide bar? I might be misunderstanding it. Can you please clarify?

Certainly.
Understand the confusion. Holders are 1/8th thick, by 1/2 wide. So, a quarter inch hole leaves an eighth on each side.

Now with a design like that, how do you prevent the bearing from slipping out of the holder? The image I've linked to above shows a a screw used to tighten the wood and grasp the bearing. Any other options? A couple self-threading set screws coming in from the top and bottom of the wooden holder might be able to be used.

fishman100 wrote:

Now with a design like that, how do you prevent the bearing from slipping out of the holder? The image I've linked to above shows a a screw used to tighten the wood and grasp the bearing. Any other options? A couple self-threading set screws coming in from the top and bottom of the wooden holder might be able to be used.

Maybe a C-Ring would work..? If so then you'd have to have a thicker block of wood, but not by much. http://www.bmikarts.com/shop/images/Uni ... -20618.jpg
C-rings such as the one in the image above requires special pliers (snap ring or C-ring pliers, I think that's what they're called), but there might be a way to do it without one (I don't have any C-rings so I haven't tried it yet).

Last year I did something similar to the pic Illusionist's posted: take the bearing, put it in a block/housing, clamp it down with a screw, and place washers/nuts on both sides of the housing to prevent it from moving. It worked well, and it only came out once.

Also, how are people attaching their wheels to the axles? I've tried tightening nuts/locknuts/wingnuts on both sides of the wheel and tapping the wheel, but neither have produced desirable results.

"chase" the threads with a die