best material for making a new cam tensioner wheel?

DCON · Post by **DCON** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 7:31 am

i am thinking oilite bronze. a few have mentioned delrin plastic. my wheels are perfect in shape but hard. sooo with many machinist friends, i am thinking of having one made. the bronze will be hard enough so as not to need a sleeve for the "axle". anyone done this before or have any ideas? thanks

bsa lover · Post by **bsa lover** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 11:31 pm

I think the oillite bronze is a little on the brittle side for this application, it will bear quite a load but doesn't like any impact type shock like , and may be hard on the chain rollers, iam going to be checking out several bearing suppliers also grainger

DCON · Post by **DCON** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 5:07 pm

aaah, impact. thats why i asked... the shock didnt even cross my mind. bearings you say? i thought about turning the outer race on a ball bearing to give it a lip for the chain to ride. im into auto transmissions and the honda diff bearings are very close with several o.d and i.d.s to choose from. guess ill start looking into that. re-inventing the wheel now huh? keep me posted, ill do the same.