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Friction ball drive - for 'gear' reduction
sorveltaja:
I use Firefox, and tried with Opera also, and with both, I can see them. They are hosted in my local internet provider's server.
pycoed:
:scratch: :scratch: :scratch:
I can see them now! :scratch:
I'm on my laptop, but they weren't showing on my desktop this morning. Both running Ubuntu 20.04 & Chromium. Time for some investigations, I think...
sorveltaja:
As the concept works with printed parts, how about machining the outer race using other material:
I chose the hockey puck -rubber, because it's somewhat flexible, easy to machine, and cheap. When inserting the bearing balls, it needs to budge just a bit.
On the other hand, the 'carrier', that transmits the ball's rotation to the potentiometer shaft, will still be a printed one. Besides, it's not a part of the 'tension network'(consisting center metal rod, balls, and the outer race), and should retain its shape in use.
The balls seem to need at least some kind of groove in the outer race, to keep them in their rotating orbit. As I don't have too many boring tools, I'm thinking of using a 4mm ball end milling bit to machine the groove for the 8mm balls:
Most(if not all) of the pots, that I've used in recent projects, have M7 x 1 threading, so that size tap is also needed, if one chooses to machine the outer race.
In the end, the center metal rod, 'sun', might not need any kind of groove in it, as the tension itself is enough to keep it in the place. In fact, when testing with printed parts, I had to pry it out.
Onetrack:
I can't see any pictures either. Have tried Chrome and Edge, but no luck.
quote author=pycoed link=topic=13213.msg158733#msg158733 date=1600159704]
Are there pictures attached to this? If so I can't see them
[/quote]
JHovel:
Great work!
A standard ball bearing works like that too. Just find a tight one and wash the grease out, so the balls roll instead of skidding.
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