side thrust & material?

Those look promising, Andy.  When used as axle bearings, how much side play do they have?  How much side thrust can they take?  Also, what are they made of, and can they stand being soldered to something like a side rod?

Very little side thrust or twist

These fall in the genre known as "instrument bearings". So they are for allowing any kind of shaft to spin freely and fast, even if there is weight "bearing down" radially. (orthogonal to the shaft). I would be reluctant to offer them as tough, "end stop" thrust bearings., although they should resist light end loads.

The 2mm ID flanged versions should be OK for HO model rail-car wheels though

Who's gonna be first?

Okay,

Who is gonna be first to use these things as bearings for Walther's Amfleet cars?

Now you're talking!

Great minds

I am intending to redesign the truck first though. It's about as bad as truck can be currently..

Already in stock - ready to take your order

Sorry, but this is the PROTO:87 STORES!!!

We are real engineers. We have the technology help you do the impossible every day.

And our existing users have already found out that as engineers, we usually do it for far less money than many other "modeling experts"

Micro-miniature grease fittings

Do you have miniature grease fittings to allow for lubricating these bearings?

Just kidding - couldn't resist!

Rick

If you call yourself a modeler.......

........ you should have a scale greaser with a working grease gun to connect on the scale grease fittings..... all in Z scale. And I am NOT kidding!!!. Now top this!.

Topped

Build in 1/2 Zn3 I guess that would be in Micro flee n3 scale.

Any way you look at it those are some really cool & tiny bearings that should really keep things rolling.

Dan

LOL!

past experience with ball bearings

I remember when the Intermountain ball bearing wheelsets came out.  I had to have a set.  I still have some of the pieces, just to show people what a frustrating experience it was.  The process of putting a wheelset into a sideframe involved enough side force to break the bearing retainers, unless you were incredibly careful and lucky.  That sent microscopic ball bearings everywhere, and left the axle loose in the wheels.

I swore off ball bearings that day.  They may be great for some applications, but not in a conventional side frame which has to be spread to insert the axle.

Andy, how do these bearings compare?  It looks like the design is a little different, and maybe you could grip the axle and avoid all side thrust on the bearings during insertion.

Not topped

Zn3 is the same scale as Z, smallest scale available so far. Nice try anyway!.

there is a smaller RR Scale than Z

If I can find it again a guy built a operating RR in 1/4 Z scale with 2 engines and 14 cars and fits in a 2" X 3" match box. 1 /900 scale

In Ripples believe it or not as worlds smallest Railroad.

go to You Tube to see it run  

4 times smaller than Z called TY scale 1/900 scale

And here is a second one smaller than Z scale

Stans Trains carry it

go to this site to see the layouts

http://www.stanstrains.com/

Dan

OK, I .........

....... admit being defeated about the scale. Now let's talk about the greasing guy again.....

Wow, talk about a

Wow, talk about a thread hijack-

Looks to me like the wheels accept the bearings in their ID rather than the bearings being in the sideframes. Seems like a great idea, these take the tapered axle points out of the equation. 

Bearings that small are closer to scale then anything I've seen

These bearings are going to make rolling stock wheels really roll and stop binding if they work half as good as they look especially if they will fit in the inside of the cone of most truck journals. I'll need to try some of these out to see what I can do with them.

Dan

They almost fit!

Just for grins, I measured the first HO scale truck I grabbed.  At 2mm, the smallest bearings would just fill the journal area.  No room for any form of mounting, and the truck I measured might well be over scale.  It does seem possible, with a little ingenuity, to make trucks with ball bearings that actually work the way the real things do, with bearings in the side frames.

You could also make roller bearing side rods for things like an N&W J.  Anybody want to tackle the Timken 4 Aces?

What about dust?.

I think dust and/or dirt will be a major issue here, unless they come with a dust proof cover. But it will defeat the whole idea useless.

radial bearings come in three types . . .

. . . Open, shielded and sealed.  Each costs more than the previous. Depending on your environment, you pick what you need and pay accordingly. Unless you have a heavy micro-dust problem, open is a good place to start.

I'm not making any claims for any particular application until I've checked it out myself. The bearings are there for those who want to experiment. I'll be using most types myself as well, for various new projects.

My number one application I'm using the 1.5 mm bearings for is to upgrade the plain bearings in tiny gearbox that will fit in a truck as small as an early arch-bar with 33" wheels.

The Amfeet trucks are running a close second. As they are similar to BART and METRO trucks too. Then some London UK Underground cars

Beyond that, the possibilities are endless

Those trucks look interesting

Andy, did you make those trucks yourself, or are they a commercial product?  I've been thinking about something similar to power small steam loco tenders, so I'd love to know more about them.

Some of my early work, before the Stores took off.

The trucks are early prototypes of my generic design to provide extremely high quality and slow running performance for under-floor re-powering of my LARY HOm Trolleys. They kind of got neglected as my "Stores" work on the Switch-Works Turnout building fixture and the Ultimate Prototypical Turnout kits took off.

But now the track range is nearing completion, I'm moving back into coming up with the new power trucks and will offer them as kits that can be adapted for various applications.

Installation manual available?

I am interested on:

* how much abuse can they take during installation. While I am not a Neanderthal, they have to be tapped in place with a suitable piece of tube.

* how much lateral play can they take (axle not being at exactly 90 degrees to gearbox or bolster).

* suggested lubrication.

* could a closed gearbox be made partially filled with oil and realistically expect it not to leak thru the bearings?.

* Life expectancy? (assume 2 hrs continuous daily use).