Re: Stainless Steel Project Help

On 1 Dec 2005 19:31:36 -0800, Searcher7@xxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> I know there would be a lot of waste
>involved, but I'm wondering about the plausibility of taking a 1-1/2"
>diameter, 4-1/2" long stainless steel rod and turning it into a 3/8"
>diameter rod with a 1-1/2" diameter ball at one end.(All other parts of
>this project will be made out of other materials).

Make the ball separately and silverbraze it onto the rod -- or drill
it, tap it, thread the rod and screw it in with some Loctite.
>

>***So I am now considering starting with a bench-top drill to make 8
>holes in the 4" x 4" stainless steel plate in that 3" diameter
>configuration, so I can just drop in the ball bearings.(Perhaps mill a
>small circular trough to connect the holes anyway to help when I may
>have to use some 3-in-1 oil). I don't know if 303 would still be the
>recommendation for this, and if there is a good drill bit for making
>these bowl-shaped holes for the bearings, but the machien and tooling
>needed would be a lot simpler for me.

Drill 1/8" dia pilot holes a bit deeper than 3/8". Then use a ball
end mill in your drillpress to make the little bowls. You could get
by without the pilot holes, but the ball-end mill will work better if
you have them.

You'll want something considerably more substantial than 3-in-1 oil.
Consider way oil, chain saw bar oil which stays put like way oil, or
a molebdynum disulfide or teflon grease. It'll still have
considerably more friction than if the balls could roll in a trough,
but lube can make a big difference. White lead would work great but
I suppose it's verboten unobtanium now.

With your light loading, another thought might be to make some little
graphite rods that would go in the pilot holes and project just a
couple of thou above the bottom of the bowls. This might result in
much lower friction. Maybe drill the pilot holes clear thru and tap
the bottom part, put the graphite rods in the holes, make your bowls
with the ball end mil (that will result in a similar cavity in the
graphite rod), then raise the rods a coupla thou with setscrews from
the other side.

You might also drill 1/2" holes, make or buy oilite or teflon bushings
with 1/4" holes thru them, press them into the holes and "ball" them
with the ball-end mill in a drillpress. Chrome steel balls might run
real nice on oilite bushings like this.

Another possibility might be to forget the cavities or trough, let
the balls roll between two flat plates, keeping the balls captive
with a disc carrier with holes in it. It might be made of delryn.

Happy inventing.

.

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