Re: Tell me the critical features of an idler wheel
hello all
Sorry for the delay in updating. Ive been waiting for a specfic size o-ring to come in and also waiting for a friend to find a knackered old idler I could practice on.
No progress on an old idler yet BUT I got the o-ring today. In a what-the-hell moment I fitted it to my plastic printed idler which I put on a temporary analog of a real de-rubbered idler wheel, snapped them together (no glue) added the o-ring and put on the BSR idler wheel spindle with a circlip. So no bearing and very lose/wobbly on the shaft. Put the platter back on, put on my test 45 (a well known track so I could judge the speed) and everything worked amazingly well
See photos attached, sorry the idler and analog is black plastic as it makes it harder to see the details and o-ring but black was what was loaded in the printer.
Now obviously this is not a longterm prospect as it has no bearing whatsoever, but I think it proves many concepts such as the o-ring contact point seems ok (rather than square), the v groove seems to work well even without glue, and the line up to the various speed steps works well
Where to from here? well I need an old metal idler to try this out on, I'd like to try the o-ring driving at 33 a record changer cam (will the o-ring transmit enough torque etc). I'm almost thinking can I print the whole thing in plastic and just lightly press fit a plain brass tube as a bearing!! watch this space
Joe
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