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Nov 12, 2024

Small, precise spacers and bushings have a big impact - KZN Industrial & Business News

VESCONITE Bearings, a leader in the production of high-performance bushings, has delivered 100,000 ring spacers to a prominent Asian firm in the year to date. This high-volume production achievement

VESCONITE Bearings, a leader in the production of high-performance bushings, has delivered 100,000 ring spacers to a prominent Asian firm in the year to date. This high-volume production achievement in the last eight months underscores Vesconite Bearings’ capability to produce some of the smallest, yet most precise bushings, setting a new standard in the industry.

These spacers feature precise outer and inner diameters, close to Ø 23 and Ø 20 mm, chamfers of 0.05 mm and an exceptionally thin thickness of just 2 mm. They have been in continuous demand since the first order was placed in August 2020. The precision required (demonstrated by a +/- 0.1 mm tolerance on the outer and inside diameters and a +/- 0.025 mm tolerance on the thickness) distinguishes these parts from others on the market.

The remarkably small thickness and strength highlight the expert machining skills of Vesconite Bearings’ team as well as the low-friction wear-resistant material’s excellent properties.

“It is important never to underestimate the little things,” says Vesconite Bearings CEO Dr Jean-Patrick Leger. “Without these small parts, important pieces of equipment, on which lives and livelihoods depend, would fail.”

While the thinness and strength of these spacers set them apart, Vesconite Bearings is making significant strides in the quantity production of small, precise, and complex components, including 3D printer bushings. These components, typically made from low-friction Vesconite Hilube and even lower-friction Vesconite Superlube, have outer diameters of Ø 15 mm, inside diameters of Ø 8 mm and can be 24 or 45 mm long. Over 6,000 of these plain bearings have been sold since 2018.

However, these are not the smallest components produced for the 3D printer industry: in 2021, Vesconite Bearings started producing two popular self-aligning 3D printing bushings, with an outer aluminium sleeve and a Vesconite Superlube spherical insert. Besides the already small 3D printer bushings, it is the pill-shaped spherical inserts, with an outer diameter of Ø 11.37 mm and an Ø 8.07 mm inside diameter for supporting the 3D printer shaft, that firmly establish Vesconite Bearings’ credentials as a reliable producer of some of the smallest bushings. These spherical inserts, which move independently within the bearing sleeve, are essential for self-aligning bushings. The aluminium-backed self-aligning bushings eliminate binding due to deformation (when clamped, secured or installed in the housing) and also absorb slight printer misalignment due to assembly errors, including printer shaft alignment and irregularities in the shaft housing’s orientation, etc.

Not to be outdone by these impressively small bushings are several other examples of small bushings produced by Vesconite Bearings.

In the medical industry, Vesconite Bearings has manufactured several specialised small bushings, including Vesconite Superlube bushings measuring 8 mm long, with an outer diameter of Ø 5 mm and an inside diameter of Ø 3 mm, and Vesconite Hilube bushings with an outer diameter of Ø 5 mm, an inside diameter of Ø 4 mm, and a flange with an Ø 11 mm diameter and 1 mm thickness.

Vesconite Bearings produced Vesconite Hilube bushings, measuring just 6 mm in length, with an inside diameter of Ø 3 mm and an outer diameter of Ø 5 mm, for an undisclosed application.

A multinational firm, with an office in the Netherlands, ordered Vesconite Hilube bushings measuring 23 mm in length and with an outer diameter of Ø 4 mm and an inside diameter of Ø 2 mm. These were to replace bronze bushings (originally specialised linear ball bearings) and operate at a low speed with a travelling distance of 10 mm in an undisclosed application.

“These examples highlight the versatility and importance of Vesconite Bearings’ small components, which play essential roles in a variety of applications, including medical and dental devices, pumps, vehicles, micro-motors, micro-machines, 3D and conventional office printing, office equipment, metrology devices, and precision engineering,” notes Leger.