Re: Ball bearings

To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: Re: Ball bearings
From: "Richard Staron" <rstaron-at-aracnet-dot-net> (by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>)
Date: Wed, 16 Jun 1999 19:56:30 -0600
Approved: twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net
Delivered-To: fixup-tesla-at-pupman-dot-com-at-fixme

Drilling into ball bearings is no joy, however I was able to make some
really good
spark gaps using scrap ball bearings 3/4" in diameter.  The trick in
drilling these things is that you must
release the internal stresses within the ball by heating it up until the
ball bearing turns
red.  I did that using a common propane torch.  Once the ball has been
heated to red hot
let it cool down naturally....don't dunk it into cold water otherwise it
harden again or possibly crack.
Once that is done, you can drill the ball, insert whatever diam rod you like
and solder it into
place again either using ordinary solder or silver solder.
You will find that after all that heating and cooling the ball bearings do
come out black, but
what you do now is if you have a lathe or a drill press, put the rod into
the chuck and spin it up
to speed.  Apply some very fine steel wool to clean it up  and then take a
strip
of leather and apply some Brasso onto it.  Place the leather against the
rotating ball bearing and boy do those ball bearing come back to life again.
If anyone wants to see some pics of using ball bearings a spark gaps, please
email me and I will
forward them to you.  My email address is as follows:  rstaron-at-aracnet-dot-net

Richard - VE3FAC