OT Need bearing recommendation for my project.

I know it's off topic, but some of you guys are really inventive. Besides, it does have some stuff about electric motors. By the way. What's the typical rpm of a modern powerful cordless drill motor? One of mine appears to be somewhere between 9,000 and 10,000 rpm.

Here's the project. See my big wheel skates.

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(that's the first prototype) Now I'm making a push stick to propel me up slight hills while on in- line skates. The design is simple. In the picture, you'll notice the axle placement of the big front wheel skate is far forward of the toe. The bulk of the apparatus will be an aluminum tube like the steering column of a kick scooter. At the bottom of that aluminum tube will be a motor positioned crosswise. The motor shaft will be a small diameter aluminum tube that will run through two bearings, with the bearings and the motor fixed to the steering column. Down from that will be like a bicycle fork but much shorter, extending from the motor/bearings down three inches to the wheel axle. The bottom end of the fork will not be permanently attached to the axle, the connection point will be like an upside down U so that it hooks downward on the axle. What keeps it there will me simply pushing down on the stick. That downward pressure will do more than keep the push stick in place, it will press the roller down against the wheel, and it will indirectly press the wheel down against the pavement. Disengaging the push stick simply requires pulling up on it.

I've used a roller in various ways before. The following configuration that didn't require bearings (unless you consider misalignment) was the most encouraging. The ride felt good and propelled me at almost 18 mph. I posted about it before.

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Obviously the problem with that is the motor is too low to the ground.

(An ultrasmall ultralight motor would be wonderful, but that's a different subject.)

Something I haven't considered in other efforts when using bearings to hold the roller pressed against the wheel is the rpm of the motor versus the maximum rpm of the bearings. Ordinary skate wheel bearings are plentiful here and I like to use them, but apparently they max out at much less than a typical cordless drill motor that spins at maybe about 10,000 rpm.

Apparently what I need is something like an ordinary 608 ball bearing, but able to handle at least 10,000 rpm with maybe 40 pounds of downward/radial pressure on the bearing. Any bearing less than two inches in diameter is okay.

Discussion, suggestions, and keywords appreciated.

Thank you.

Reply to
John Doe
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Cordless drill bearings?

Check McMaster-Carr

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They're notorious for charging top dollar, but they're a good place to find just about anything.

Try Boca bearings, too. If they have it, it'll probably be a better price than McMaster, and they may have stuff that's not so top-notch but is still more than good enough for you.

Figure that just about anything you choose will do a _lot_ better if you can arrange for continuous lubrication. Regular old sealed ball bearings backed by a bunch of heavy oil or light grease will last where regular old sealed ball bearings run dry won't.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Do you need to implement control loops in software?
"Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" gives you just what it says.
See details at http://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html
Reply to
Tim Wescott

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