Thisarticle(andthreevideos)contributedbyRonWalters
Ithoughtawooduniversaljointwouldbefun
touseonsomeprojects,butfirstIhadto
figureouthowtomakeone.
Idecidedon5/16"dowelforthecrosspins.I
wantedthejointtomovefreelyanddecidedI
couldacceptaloosefittoallowforexpected
dimensionalchangesinthewood.21/32"was
selectedasmatingholeforthe5/16"pins.
Cuttingthecrossshaftblocksandyokeblocks
rawstocktolength.
Iusednearlyeverypowertoolinmyshopin
theconstruction.
Thehingeoryokeendswerefabricatedin
pairs,whichmadethepieceseasiertowork
with.
Afterdrilling,shaping,androundover,theends
werecutapartandsandedtolengthand
matchedinpairs.
Crossshaftblockswerecrossdrilled
Crossshaftpinswerechamferedandcutto
lengthusingjigsforthediscsanderandtable
saw.
Afterthepinsweregluedintotheblock,the
internalradiusesweresanded.
Yokesweregluedtogetherusingepoxy
Thentheyokeswerecrossdrilledandpinned
sincethegluejointswouldoperationallybein
shear.Thepinsare1/8"dowel.
Wood U-Joint Construction Part 2
AftertheUJointswereassembled,the
hardestpartwaslocatingtheexactcenterof
theyokebackplates.Thiswassomewhat
complicatedduetotheloosefitoftheparts.
DoubleUJointdriveshaftsareusedforrelativelysmalloffsetapplications.ThesewoodUJointsaren'treallyintended
forhighspeedorhightorqueapplications.Atrelativelyslowspeedsandreasonableloadsthesewillperform
satisfactorilyforalongtime.
TheseUJointswillprobablyendupinafuturemarblemachineorotherwoodgeartypeapplication.
Wood U-Joint Double - Part 3
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