Retaining rings and e-clips

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Gui,
E-clips work OK for some things but they are really dependent on the correct size cut in the shaft (both depth and width). Retaining clips are used all the time for holding bearings in place. If you use them, have plenty of spares and always wear eye protection, they take off at high velocity if you slip and you will never find them when you need them.

[Adam Y.]

Do not use the clips that FIRST provided. Unless I was putting them on wrong (and that very well may be the situation) they had a tendancy to mar the drive shafts. Also as the people pointed out above they did get misaligned from competition use.

However, these are heavy, burdensome to take off, and difficult to justify.

Which shaftcollars have you used? I have seen ones that seem incredibly simple to take apart. All you had to do was to take a screwdriver to them. (Note to self: Mcmaster is not the place to look for cheap robot parts)

[Andrew]

e-clips don't usually have the same retaining force as snap rings.

If you plan to use snap rings, get a special tool (available at auto parts suppliers) for removal and installation.

Don't use either snap rings or e-clips when large axial forces are expected (as in a worm&gear drive).

Spacers are an excellent and potentially high precision method for retaining gears in place.

An alternative to snap rings, if you don't mind the imprecision, is cotter pins (including hairpin cotter pins). You just need to drill the hole in the shaft through which they will fit. You might also find that a clevis pin and a cotter pin can serve as both axle and retainer.

If you put a shoulder on your shafts, you might accomplish your retaining needs by making an access plate. A super-simplification of the access plate is to put a threaded hole really close to where you want to retain things and then use the head of a screw (or a washer) to hold the parts together.