On a roll with SKF

Wheels are often depicted as one of the oldest inventions of human kind. And though this is true, wheels have not been static throughout the years but have been evolving continuously since their conception. One of the most (but often overlooked) aspects of the wheel are its bearings. Bearings serve as the interface between two moving parts, in our case the rotating wheel and static axle. When making any kind of wheel, choosing the right bearings is of the utmost importance. Larger bearings can handle larger radial and axial forces, while smaller bearings can spin faster. SKF is our partner in bearings and with their help we have found the perfect bearings for our use case: extremely high speed.

Here you can see me inserting SKF ball bearings in the guidance wheels. The bearings are press fitted in the wheels; which means they will be fit very snugly in the wheel. This is important to prevent unwanted moving or sliding while the wheels are spinning. I have used a hollow cylinder to make sure the force is only applied to the outer ring of the bearing when pressing them. This is to make sure no force is applied on the balls when pressing them, because that could damage the bearings. Finally when the bearings are set in place, they are locked in place with a circlip. Now, the wheels are ready to go for a spin!