pic: Andymark's New Product

[FoleyEngineer]

We'll definitely be buying them. Only worry that comes to mind is if there's enough material to take the wear and tear without "wearing through"? The tensioners we made ourselves out of Delrin probably had a 1/2" of solid backing and I'll bet we wore through 1/8" of it. Looks like there might only be 1/8" there, but it's hard to tell w/o dimensions. Have you done any testing on wear?

Thanks,
John

[R.C.]

UHMW is a harder plastic than delrin. Our Mcmaster Carr ones only wore 3/16th's and we used them for almost 2 years.

[Greg Needel]

Originally Posted by rc_cola1323

UHMW is a harder plastic than delrin. Our Mcmaster Carr ones only wore 3/16th's and we used them for almost 2 years.

not in all cases. standard uhmw is around 66 shore D while Delrin is around 86 shore D

Since these are both plastics which can contain glass filling, other materials, recycled plastic it is not wise to make generalizations about materials. Especally in this case where you didn't state the exact material which these are molded and the exact type of delrin they used.


On another note, I am not sure that hardness is the correct measure for effective chain tensioners. I would think it has to do with the lubricity of the material and the ductility. While hardness probably comes into play (ie why gum rubber wouldn't be a good tensioner) It is not the only (or possibly the main one) which needs to be considered.

[MikeDubreuil]

I'd like to make a suggestion for this thread and the AndyMark website...

I have been following the development of this product since the first CAD drawings were posted on CD. Now, I think I'm a fairly smart guy... college educated and a pretty good software engineer.... it took me a very long time to realize these would be used as a pair and tie wrapped together. Now I realize why everyone thought the idea was so beautiful in its simplicity.

Now for the suggestion... could you show a picture of it used on a robot? I think that would help people (maybe I'm the only one) understand how to use it and why it's so effective.

[Zflash]

http://www.snapidle.com/

This website with a similar product has a picture that shows the concept. However for what it matters I endorse the AM product, might as well support a fellow FIRSTer!

[Richard Wallace]

Originally Posted by Zflash

http://www.snapidle.com/

This website with a similar product has a picture that shows the concept. However for what it matters I endorse the AM product, might as well support a fellow FIRSTer!

The Snapidle Mini appears to be the same kind of tensioner sold by McMaster-Carr (5973K1 or 5973K2, depending on the chain size). Those sell for about $30 each.