Rotary Rolamite Bearing, files on thingiverse

Here's a rotary rolamite bearing I designed:
[www.thingiverse.com]
It's primarily designed as a replicapable alternative to skate bearings.

hi

That is cool, Gene. I remember seeing them in that "Mechanical Devices" book.

How well do you think the wear quality will be? Do you think you'll go with a thread-reinforced belt?

I have no idea about the wear quality, but all that matters is that it last long enough to make more than 1 copy of itself(I hope to integrate this part into a printable stepper motor I'm designing).
A thread reinforced belt is a must, I learned a while after I designed this bearing about something called stress relaxation.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stress_relaxation) Stress relaxation would cause the band, which is designed to be under a bit of tension, to slowly stretch and lose tension. It's also a good idea given that most rolamite devices use steel bands which have a relatively high youngs modulus.

Though there's the problem of figuring out how to integrate the thread into the silicone band, I've got a some ideas on how to do this, I just haven't CADed them out yet and I'm not sure if they will work.

I'd make a spindle and then wind kevlar, etc on the spindle.

Also, we'll have a [[Spoolhead]] soon, maybe.
[objects.reprap.org]