- This topic has 9 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 1 year, 11 months ago by
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Came across this balancing tool and process earlier today. Fascinating, and might be worth the effort. When you consider that the rear wheel assembly on our cars is typically rotating somewhere between 7,000 rpm and 9,000 rpm at full throttle a little imbalance could lead to a lot of instability. (And after today’s crazy track behaviors I’ll take any reasonable means to settle a car, especially under braking.)
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I just started using one from Kolhoza. I purchased a different one to start with but really like the Kolhoza. I can’t say I have seen a big impact on my times but I need to spend more time working with it.
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I was looking at this one, but I’m interested to see what Alex prints.
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The Mid-America balancer is all aluminum and not adjustable, but fits:
- 50mm and shorter axles
- Long-can uncut, Armatures
BTW – a pointed axle looks cool and I am sure with $1mm lab equipment probably can be measured as “focusing” the magnetic field, BUT is NOT critical to actually do the balancing process. It basically allows the end touching the plastic cover (over one magnet) to have minimal friction and minimize any effect of a Not perfectly Flat axle end (e.g. from a bad cut when they cut off the drill blank).
Bottom Line – If your tool does not come with a pointed axle, with a few minutes (and patience) with a Dremel you can round or point one of your spares.
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Mark,
The Mid-America balancer shown in Brian’s post is adjustable. The magnets on each end move in or out as needed to get the proper adjustment for the axle to move freely. Once in the correct place, they are held in place with set screws. The pointed end is highly critical for the tool to work properly. Having the point in the absolute center of the axle is the trick for the tool to work correctly. If the points are off the tool will not work.
I own two of these tools – one from TWP/Mid-America and the other from Kolhoza. The Kolhoza is the better of the two. I have not used it to set up wheels or gears yet. I will be using it for the CanAm series later this year where wheel RPM will be 7K-9K. I will be writing a report to detail how it works and if it’s worth the time and money.
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My point in my comment is that these tools are also used for motor armature balancing, (as they can be), and rarely can one purchase an armature with a pointed shaft, and regardless of the geometry of the axle/shaft end, the magnetic force centers the cylinder based on ferrite content [and of course our rules prevent balancing the armatures of our sealed motors].
Thus, if for some reason the tool did not come with a pointed balancing shaft/axle,the tool can still be useful for balancing a 3/32 axle and gear assembly with flat ends. In fact the axle you are planning on using, should be used with the planned crown/spur, because it is the actual part to be installed and any imbalance in the shaft itself will be resolved by the tuning of the gear or its collar.
Altho – of course- a precision pointed axle is preferred and should be provided by the vendor.
Trying to create your own pointed axle will not be useful, (the amount of ferrite at the end will be inconsistent) rather if both ends are 90-deg-Flat the balancing action *should be correct.
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