Magnum Center Glide Bearing

[pgkevet]

..so we need a uk fitting franchise?

[waveydavey]

It just fits in the same way that the bearing does, heat it up a bit pop the bush in the freezer and drop it in. Andy will have done it this way.

[KevDavies]

Cant fit it yourself my arse!!

My incling of what he does is reams the bushing to a tolerance for that particular crank. I have a full set of reamers from 1/4" upwards to 3". TBH any engineer could fit and machine that bearing to fit.

Ive been speaking to my boss about this today, as I would be using his equipment to knock these up. We have spoken to a couple of bearing suppliers that specialise in dry bearings and have a some samples of materials on the way so we can start doing some tests on a sacrificial crank and crank case

[Varelco]

Makes me smile when manufacturers emphasis on the use of ball raced bearings as opposed to cheaper bush fitted engines (not so evident in heli motors) yet it seems the better option is the good old journal bearing

[George J]

You may well be able to install it yourself, Andy K has had success doing it himself so it clearly can be done.
Me personally? For the sake of £50 I'll keep sending my engines to Buzz to fit it as the risk of just one engine getting stuffed because I'd tried to save a few quid just isn't worth the risk IMO.
I like a bit of tinkering and building but most of all I just want my machines to work so I can fly them every flyable day.

[pgkevet]

It's not so much the £50 (although £50 squids dont grow on trees anymore).. there's the cost outbound and the memory of one return parcel from the US going missing for 2 mths plus the inevitable HMRC argument that it's only the bushing that's new and another £10 vat + £1 tax etc...

I think I've got a rebuilt spare 91 lying around if needed for testing too...

[JoeBailey]

I'd love to get my hands on one of these, as others have said I see no reason why it can't be reproduced. At the end of the day its a bush, the same thing that has been fitted to cheaper plane engines for years. Os still make plain bushed engines and they are great reliable runners. Not to mention the thousands of rc car motors sold every year that use bushes. It's nothing new.

sent from my Samsung tab 3

[waveydavey]

I'd love to get my hands on one of these, as others have said I see no reason why it can't be reproduced. At the end of the day its a bush, the same thing that has been fitted to cheaper plane engines for years. Os still make plain bushed engines and they are great reliable runners. Not to mention the thousands of rc car motors sold every year that use bushes. It's nothing new.

sent from my Samsung tab 3

Maybe not but the material is a secret, one of the club members had a go with what they thought was the correct material but as the engine started to warm up then it got tight. So either machining was a bit tight or the material itself as it warmed up started to bite

[KevDavies]

Myself and my boss have narrowed it down to a few materials that have the "right properties", now wether theyre the "right" properties, I dont know. Samples are on the way, testing shortly after

[George J]

Good luck with the testing, I somehow think you'll need it!

[jwatts007]

Looks like a bit of brass too me....

[waveydavey]

Looks like a bit of brass too me....

It's defo not a bit of brass, too soft. Some sort or an alloy maybe, me I think it's closely related to Inconel.

[rapidgaz]

Could be bronze.


Sent down the wires from home

[jwatts007]

What is the material that looks like copper that is used at the ends of the conrods...

[pgkevet]

..could just as easily be plated steel which would make some sort of sense from the thermal expansion viewpoint on a steel shaft. Obviously the wrong colour for nikasil....