I’ve wanted to do a kaleidoscope with a nice, smooth turning end for awhile. After a workshop with Scott Cole, I did some searching for good bearings with a large inner diameter (ID) so I could use some decent sized mirrors. I found some bearings with an outer diameter (OD) of 2 inches which were nice and thin.
The bearings then sat around in a drawer for a year or so… My husband gave me a hand with the engineering this time around. I didn’t have any tube for the kaleidoscope body that was exactly 2″ ID but we found some PVC pipe to use which was close. The bearing fits directly in the pipe but you need to have some way to attach the object chamber to the bearing so it can turn.
Dave turned down a collar for the bearing using some square aluminum stock which he had on hand. (If we do this again he’s going to look for some thick walled pipe instead). Then he bored out the inner hole. The metal lathe makes some intricate spirals and shavings of metal which I think I’m going to have to try in an object chamber eventually. The bearing fits just perfectly on the aluminum collar – it almost snaps into place.
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Would you please send to me more info on kaleidoscope bearings; cost, where to order, etc. I use to buy all my k-scope parts from Scot, but I lost contact with him a couple of years ago. At that time he had a 1″ bearing, but was really too small. Thanks.
Jack Smith
I haven’t been making scopes lately so I can’t give you recent prices… But Boston Clay Works now carries a variety of kscope supplies, including bearings. Larry’s great to work with, and if you can’t find something let him know. If he gets enough requests, sometimes he’ll hunt it down or have it made.
http://polymerclayprojects.com/Bearings.htm
You can do some searching around in various online bearing sites if there’s something specific you’re looking for, but the last time I put in an order for what would have been the perfect size, it was backordered to China and I never got what I ordered
Hope that helps,
Christy
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Thx Rob Rasner Comedian
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