Wooden Ball Bearing

This instructable will show you how to make a very cool looking ball bearing out of wood. I have always been interested in ball bearings, so I decided to make one my self, and I decided that making one out of metal would be too much like bearings that you can buy, so I chose to make one out of wood.

This bearing consists of 3 parts, the inner race, the outer race, and the balls. Most ball bearings have what is called a cage that is pressed in to hold the balls in, but I could not make that so I made this with the outer race as 2 parts glued together.

Step 1 Tools and materials required.

The tools that are needed to make this are:
Wood lathe with a faceplate (A metal lathe would work very well, but be careful turning wood on a metal lathe, because if you leave saw dust on the lathe it could rust)
Lathe tools
Drill bit assortment
Wood Chisel (Or utility knife)
Caliper

Materials:
2 5.5 inch squares of 3/4" thick wood (I used pine because that is what I had, but hardwood would be better, but anything you can turn on your lathe is fine) this is going to be the outer race

1 3" square of 1.5" thick wood (I cut this out of a 2x4) this will be the inner race

Material for 9 wooden spheres (see next step)

Super glue/ Wood glue

Comments

[lmvlobos]

Ideally, you would cut the races with a radius to match the diameter of the balls. This will give the bearing a higher load capacity and longer life. If however, this is only a decoration. Well done.
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Also, a SLIGHTLY better method for attaching the stock to the chuck flange...
Use WHITE glue, not woodworking glue, and put a sheet of thick paper, NOT card stock, between your work piece and the MDF that is screwed to the chuck flange. This will hold just as well, and separate very easily as the joint will cleave at the paper. Then just sand the remaining paper and glue off the finished work.

[kcedgerton]

Yeah, it would be better, but at the time I was not that confident with my turning skills to do that.

Also I have heard of using white glue and paper, but white glue takes a very long time to dry, and I am impatient, so I chose to use super glue and accelerator, and I was a little surprised to see that it held, even when I went to larger diameters (~9").

[rprough]

Use Gorilla Glue for the parts that require gluing. That way you can enter two contests at once! :)

[kcedgerton]

I don't think Gorilla Glue would work for this, because it foams, and if you were to glue it together you would probably glue the balls to the races, and it would not be able to turn.

[mikesnyd]

They have gorilla wood glue.

[kcedgerton]

Yeah, I actually used gorilla brand wood glue for this. I guess that I was just thinking of the original polyurethane gorilla glue not all of their products.

[thepelton]

The part of the glue that foams out of the joint can easily be cut or sanded off once it is dried. You would just have to make sure it didn't contact the balls.

[ryangranado]

Wow dude I sell all types of bearings and always wanted to make one. Not being a turner I wouldn't be able to make these. Any chances of you selling any? Freaking SWWWWWWEEEET!

[kcedgerton]

I never planed to sell these, but if the price is right I will.

[ryangranado]

[e-mail] Send over a price that you think is fair.

[DELETED_kage_no_akiri]

(removed by author or community request)

[mathieulj]

Wood bearings are still in use and they have decent properties when impregnated with some sort of lubricant (ex. paraffin). Although those are plain bearings instead of ball bearings. I would need to see many tests on wooden ball bearings before I would trust them in industrial applications. For little projects like this though, it is more than strong enough.

[DELETED_kage_no_akiri]

(removed by author or community request)

[mathieulj]

Just to be clear, I was agreeing with you (although with a more specific definition). For plain journal bearings (no rolling parts, just a slip ring around the rotating shaft), wood is still in use and has many advantages (although some disadvantages also) over more common bearing materials. Lignum vitae use is slowing down (due to availability) but rock maple is filling in the gaps.

[thepelton]

I have a machine called the Ringmaster that can cut concentric rings out of wood and was thinking that perhaps I could use it to make something like this. The only problem I can see is that I would probably have to run dowels through the sides to make the rings stick together.

[Wo0kiE]

not sure if you stated it or if I missed it, but how long did this take you? very cool idea...

[kcedgerton]

The races took me almost an hour each, so if you buy the balls then it could take 3 hours or less. I took an hour per race because I was cutting small amounts off at a time, and checking the size. If you are very experienced with the lathe then you could take less time.

[rimar2000]

Voted!

[rimar2000]

Wonderful! Years ago I have in mind to do something. The site you mention gives an excellent idea of how turning spheres. With your system you can make a very nice Lazy Susan.

[CrLz]

Nice.