Quote:
Originally Posted by asid61
Sounds interesting. As I said though, because this is pretty low-budget (we have other stuff to work on too) I wanted to avoid ball bearings.
Slewing rings sounds interesting, but they are a little big.
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Using bearing for this application might be a little easier on your wallet than you think. 2'' ID thrust bearings are around $5, all you need is one on the top to handle the weight of the turret, one below to lock the whole thing together and some kind of bearing surface in between to handle radial loads. If you do this, since the top of the bushing is no longer a bearing surface you would only need for the inside of the bushing to be slick. This means that you could make a tube (aluminum, delrin, whatever strength is required for mounting) and put a sleeve bushing inside. A 2'' ID sleeve bushing can be bought from mcmaster for around $10. Or simply make the tube out of delrin and use that as your inner bearing surface.
This approach would change your design the least. Any timken or ball bearing for a shaft of that size would have a very large OD, and would require you to modify your design accordingly.
-Adrian