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Plywood rotors

PostPosted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 9:12 pm
by peter_trend
Hi I'm in the middle of a similar but smaller project as yours, and I just wondered what it was that you bolted to each rotor (the thing with 4 bolts and a hole through it for the shaft). I'm interested because I have used mdf for my rotors, superglued the magnets on (they are weaker and smaller than yours though), and to transfer the torque I have used 8mm threaded rod as the shaft and attached "T-nuts" to each rotor - effectively making each rotor like a nutthat screws onto the shaft and can be fixed with a lock nut. However, I have run into problems with this method, as the rotor seemsto wobble and the t-nuts seem to be coming loose as they eat into the mdf every time I remove them (the magnetic force pulls them together at one side and then the other).

Having seen yours, I think that might solve the big problem with using mdf so I was wondering what they were called and where I could get them, and also if they had bearings inside? Because I'm hoping that they don't, so that I can find one with an 8mm diameter hole and tap a thread onto it. If they have bearings I might have to try to make something similar myself, which will be much harder as I don't have metal working gear except a hack saw and some files - I don't even have a metal vice at the moment!

I hope you can help me out a bit =]

Peter

PostPosted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 11:50 pm
by windgat
Hi there. The piece u refer to is a UCF 201 bearing. It has a 12mm hole, and yes it does have a bearing. Also the bearing in the centre can pivot, so I dont think thats what u want.

What is mdf? There is a surprising amount of force involved I found... thats why I use steel rotors and 4 x 12mm ssteel bolts.

For your idea, maybe you could use some say 5mm plate steel, weld a few together, then drill a hole and tap. But with limited tools thats hard!

Hope thats helps!