[TowerTalk] Bearings for Axial Load

[Charles Gallo]

This whole thing brings me back to one of my hobby horses.

Why are we using ball/roller/taper bearings for this use?

A nice hat section (inverted) plastic bearing (cheap if molded, more expensive if machined due to waste) made of say nylon 66, or even Teflon (particularly if filled) would be way better. They won't fret from vibration, never need lube, designed right won't see sunlight, never corrode , and would probably be less expensive in production quantities (see molded). I could build something that doesn't use solids, but multiple pieces of rod ends that would have more labor, but less material cost

Ball/roller bearings are great, but are really the wrong thing for an intermittent duty, low speed, weather exposed, hard to maintain environment, with vibration and shock when stopped

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73 de KG2V
Charlie