My Own Connecting Rod Balancing Stand!
Turbo Mini Forums

Not sure if this is the correct section to post this but I'm pretty excited to show off the stand I made for balancing connecting rods.
I'm nearing completion as I still need to make a block to hold the little end on the scale.
The large roller fits in the big end with .025" clearance and spins on two roller bearings. There is a thrust bearing behind it as well.
The knurled brass screw goes through a roller bearing and also has a thrust bearing behind it. The screw is used to adjust the height.
If people are interested, I can draw up the parts but it's pretty straight forward. Also, if anyone would like to borrow it, I'm happy to post it around once I'm done but I'm in the US so shipping will be a little $$$.
I will keep updating this as I complete it and post pictures of it in use.

looks good mate, take it you have some nice scales to complete the task.

are yo just balancing or mod + balance?

Interesting collection of stuff on the work bench :)

Yes i moved to the darkside

Instagram @jdm_brett

Good effort.

So I finished this up last night. I sadly didn't take many pictures of the actually machining which is the more fun thing to look at but I get so into it I forget pictures.
To make the base for scale, I took a 2"x1"x.5" piece of aluminum and reamed a 3/8" hole for a dowel pin press fit, I also tapped a 1/4-20 hole in the bottom.
Reaming (done in the same setup as cutting the base to ensure perpendicularity):

Then I faced off a little piece of aluminum for the base and drilled a clearance hole.

(the center hole doesn't do anything, this was a recycled peice)
I originally tried without the base but it just fell over.


Finished and in action!


Pictures of the linkages for those that are curious:



Regarding questions:

I'm just balancing the rods I have. I was going to polish and such but I'm hearing it's not such a big deal.

I picked up a cheapish digital scale on Amazon that looks like it will do the job fine. I'm expecting my tolerance to be around .5g but I'll need to look at the repeatibility of the setup a bit before committing to a tolerance.

Yeah, my desk at work is a bit of a hodge podge of stuff and... I've been too lazy to take out the recycling (I did it right after the pictures actually, promise!)

As an aside, can anyone tell me if my pictures are coming out really large? Sometimes they show up that way on my PC and other times they don't

Good effort up to now, but you might find that you get more accurate results if you make a bush for the little end as well, something thats a easy fit by hand. Ive always found that any scope for movement either nearer or further from your pivot stand will show large differences in the little end weight shown, even on the same rod

Stu

Stu,

Thanks for the tip. I'll try and get a bush turned up or source a bearing to fit. I assumed that the linkage holding the big end would allow lateral movement to help with this issue.