Forum's Ugliest Winder. . . Almost complete

[kayakerca]

Ok Jim, thanks.
I was just curious if the pillow block bearings that you have turned very easily by hand. That would have given me an idea as to how they would act on the winder. The ones I was looking at are only $16 so I'll just buy them and hope fore the best.

Thanks.

Hi Stratz:

I went down and pulled out one of the pillow bearings I had (see attached). It definitely has some resistance in the movement relative to the free spinning bronze bearing. More than the torque of a sewing machine motor? I don't think so. And, mine is a 5/8", and I believe it would soften up after a bit of use and spin a little easier. My guess anyway. I think it would be even less of an issue with a 1/2" version, but it will require a little torque to get it moving.

[Stratz]

Thanks very much for your help Jim

Rob.

[David King]

BAll bearings are not all created equal but most asian bearings now are better than USA bearings from back then. I'd get bearings from a reputable source such as ebatmus.com who are located in Springfield, Ma.
They will give you a lot of choices in any given size and that lets you choose ABEC-6 or higher if you want to spend the extra bucks. Most bearings fail due to alignment problems at installation or being incorrectly pressed in. Pillow blocks eliminate most alignment issues but you don't always get a good quality bearing. The grease fittings are deceptive, most ball bearing are greased for life and can easily get overfilled and a shortened lifespan. Best bang for the buck are ABEC 6 grade skateboard bearings size 608 for 8 mm shafting from ebay or VXB.com . Get them in packs of 8 for a few $ea and use them in everything. Buy precision ground 8mm linear shafting, it's plenty large enough for coil winding. All this stuff is available from ebay, Amazon etc.

[Stratz]

Thanks for the great information on the bearings David.

I would convert it to a smaller shaft but my face plate has a 1/2" bore which was custom machined with a lot of detail and I'm a little leery of bushing it down to a smaller size.... (wobble and such).

Thanks

[Joe Gwinn]

I would convert it to a smaller shaft but my face plate has a 1/2" bore which was custom machined with a lot of detail and I'm a little leery of bushing it down to a smaller size.... (wobble and such).

Another reason is to prevent accidental bending if you happen to pick the winder up by the bobbin axle.

I had the bending problem with my homebrew schatten-style winder, which has a 1/4" diameter steel shaft. Next time, I'd use at least 3/8", and 1/2" is almost universal for small industrial winders.