Date:         Sat, 15 Dec 2012 19:00:20 -0800
Reply-To:     Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: syncro propshaft delrin bushing update
Comments: To: Alistair Bell <albell@shaw.ca>
In-Reply-To:  <12906A35-56CD-4700-9AE9-BCCAAF437AC7@shaw.ca>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

   I have to say that Delrin is amazing stuff.    Very useful and very
durable and easy to work.   I use it all the time for bearing-type stuff.
   We built a fancy racing sailboat, 46 footer with a 68 foot very bendy
mast...Part of the speed of the boat came from the ability to change the
curvature of the mast, using hydraulics and the stays.   In order to change
the shape in the lower part the mast had to be able to move where it
stepped inside the boat on top of the keel but there was immense down force
from all the wires....We often had over 6000# of tension on the headstay,
alone.....and yet the foot of the mast, sitting in it's delrin track,
easily moved fore and aft almost 6" as the mast was bent....And there were
no signs of wear when we pulled the mast after the first racing season...
The 2 1/2" diameter monel drive shaft from the diesel also ran in delrin
bearings with no appreciable deterioration...Great material!

On Sat, Dec 15, 2012 at 5:39 PM, Alistair Bell <albell@shaw.ca> wrote:

> Today I pulled the propshaft that I made new internal bushing out of
> Delrin for back in June. The fit of the shaft into the bushings was still
> as tight as it was when I installed it.
>
> some pics etc
>
>
> http://shufti.wordpress.com/2012/12/15/vanagon-syncro-propshaft-bushing-6-month-update/
>
> alistair
>