Viceroy TDS 1/1 G.B. Kart Wheel Balancer
Posted: Sun 04 Mar , 2007 10:56 am
Hi
Just a small very basic project. I made a wheel balancer for racing kart wheels. It's a short axle with bearings on each end.
As a balancer it is easy to use. An out-of-balance wheel just settles with the heavy side down. I just have to keep adding weight to the high side until it stays still and any point of rotation.
I recycled an old kart axle and turned up a couple of bushings with a spigot on each. The spigots hold precision ball bearings that were salvaged from the internals of an old hard disk drive. These are very good quality and much cheaper than trying to buy new bearings.
The use of ball bearings means I just have to support the weight of the balancer and wheel. No need for any fancy engineering. In the photos, I just used a couple of scrap pieces of wood. Very low tech but effective.
The busings were roughed out and then fitted to the shaft ends. The bushings are shouldered to match the internal diameter of the shaft tube. The 3-point steady was used to finish the spigots. I found it relatively easy to turn both spigots so the bearings were a push fit. Once I found the right diameter for one end, I just turned down to the same setting on the other end. Both bearings went on with the same push fit.
Just a small very basic project. I made a wheel balancer for racing kart wheels. It's a short axle with bearings on each end.
As a balancer it is easy to use. An out-of-balance wheel just settles with the heavy side down. I just have to keep adding weight to the high side until it stays still and any point of rotation.
I recycled an old kart axle and turned up a couple of bushings with a spigot on each. The spigots hold precision ball bearings that were salvaged from the internals of an old hard disk drive. These are very good quality and much cheaper than trying to buy new bearings.
The use of ball bearings means I just have to support the weight of the balancer and wheel. No need for any fancy engineering. In the photos, I just used a couple of scrap pieces of wood. Very low tech but effective.
The busings were roughed out and then fitted to the shaft ends. The bushings are shouldered to match the internal diameter of the shaft tube. The 3-point steady was used to finish the spigots. I found it relatively easy to turn both spigots so the bearings were a push fit. Once I found the right diameter for one end, I just turned down to the same setting on the other end. Both bearings went on with the same push fit.