View Single Post
  #1   Report Post  
Posted to rec.crafts.metalworking
Existential Angst[_2_] Existential Angst[_2_] is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 934
Default Coupling shafts....

Awl --

So ahm hard at work on m'bicycle generator, and I need to couiple the shaft
(on bearings) driven by the bike wheel, to the shaft on the generator/motor.
Some might say, Well, why not just drive the generator directly by the
wheel, and the reason is the bearing-unfriendly nature of cantilivered
stresses.

So the driven shaft is well-supported for the load (a bearing on either end
of the shaft), and the generator shaft is thusly fairly stress-free.
The Q is, how to attach them.

I see in MSC a bunch of types of love-joy-esque couplings, with the typical
"finger-laced" coupling I am familiar with being called their "three piece
jaw coupling", which is two hubs with a floating "spider" that kind of links
the two hubs. It's also among the cheapest coupling methods.

Are there better methods? I see a "flexible grid coupling", which basically
looks like a piece of hose.

Where do universal joints fit into this scheme?

I'll be able to align the generator shaft with the drive shaft pretty
accurately (eye-accurate), with nuts/threaded rod standoffs. But not
accurate enough for solid-style couplings.

Opinions on the best way to go -- and with the least drama?
--
EA