[Monochron]

Originally Posted by Ari423

I thought of that, but I don't think it would work. Right now, the flanges are on the inside of the tube and the shaft collars are inside of them keeping the bearings from falling inwards. The screws on the end of the shaft would only be able to be outside of the bearings, meaning the bearings would have to be flipped so the flanges are on the outside of the tube. Because of that, the rest of the bearing is sticking through the tube wall .15" into the tube, taking up more space than the shaft collar.

If you remove the collars from the inside you could replace them with a spacer so that the bearings (with their flanges on the inside) are flush against spacer or gear. Make the spacer long enough so that it presses against the gear and the gear presses against the other bearing. Doing that, you would only need a bolt/washer combo to retain the shaft axially if it isn't already held stationary by something else.