Gearing up for another spinner

Maybe helpful for some:

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Iā€™m using WD-40 for its solvent properties. I usually have to hold and wipe the bearings between two paper towels for a while, and then let them sit on the towels overnight to drain most of the residual WD. Iā€™m thinking of hitting them with some isopropyl alcohol to remove the WD and speed drying.

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Brilliant! Iā€™ve been obsessively sizing and then pressing the bearings into place while the acrylic is still warm. What a relief ā€” thanks for sharing this. :+1:

In my younger days when I had to clean inline skate bearings regularly Iā€™ve used gasoline(Really bad idea but super effective), WD 40, and specific purpose citrus based degreasers.

Almost always put a large amount of the degreasing agent of choice in a small glass and shook heavily, but I had a lot of grit and sand and dust to get out. After all the bearings had been through Iā€™d save the non-flammable and do 1 more pass with fresh until the solution stayed noticeably clean. I kept a towel around I would set them on between. Iā€™d usually then run them through soapy water and a rinse to get the last of the cleaning agents off, unless I used WD-40 and was re-lubing with oil(usually sewing machine oil). then Iā€™d use a hair drier to get them as dry as I could and then apply the oil.

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I pop them into an oven set as low as it goes (150F) and leave them for an hour. Not hot enough to melt any of the plastic or nylon components/shields but will leave them bone dry.

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At some point I want to experiment with a design where, when they compress, you have a flush surface on the bearing instead of a cornerā€¦ but my stupid day job & my awesome wifeā€™s laser-honey-do list has so far interfered. :wink:

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i havenā€™t bothered with the spinners, but i do have a little ultrasonic bath i use with regularity. i find a couple of drops of dish soap, some hot water, and a couple of 3 minute cycles are usually all you need. itā€™s like frigging magic at getting oil off of things.

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Great ideas, everyoneā€¦thanks!

Smart. Iā€™ll definitely be using this cut. Thanks @Dan

If you are looking for a cheap place to buy bearings, Iā€™ve found that VXB.com usually is one of the cheapest places to get almost any size bearing.

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Wanted to report back on thisā€¦

YES! TOTALLY did the trick. Sprayed 'em w/ WD-40, wrapped 'em in paper towel for a day, and they work GREAT now. We compared to a real purchased, pre-fabricated spinner and got literally the same length spin. Very happy.

Thanks!

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i missed this before. just to drive the point home for others, wd-40 is a solvent (stands for water displacement). itā€™s not a lubricant (referring to it as such is actually listed as a myth on their website). it should never be used to lubricate hinges, or anything else, really; when it feels like itā€™s lubricating, youā€™re getting the benefit of things dissolving, and any problems fixed with this ā€˜lubricantā€™ are likely masked and will return, though itā€™s possible that wd-40 occasionally fixes a problem that had been previously masked by extra lube.

there are way better lubricants out there if you need them, but wd-40 is a great solvent for lots of things, so worth keeping on hand. if you need lubricants, there are things like 3-in-1 oil or graphites, depending on the problem.

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From the WD-40 website:

A Question of Lubrication

Myth: WD-40Ā® Multi-Use Product is not really a lubricant.

Fact: While the ā€œW-Dā€ in WD-40Ā® stands for Water Displacement, WD-40Ā® Multi-Use Product is a unique, special blend of lubricants. The productā€™s formulation also contains anti-corrosion agents and ingredients for penetration, water displacement and soil removal.

Sort of an odd double negative, but the WD-40 website, at least, claims that WD-40 not being a lubricant is a myth, or in other words, they claim that WD-40 is in fact a lubricant, along with suiting other purposes.

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:blush:

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Yes that argument rages all over the internet.

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haha, i swear to bits it used to say other things.

regardless i stand by my recommendation never to use it as a lubricant - even if it technically works sometimes, there are better tools for the job (and better places to use wd40, i still love the stuff)

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I agree completely :slightly_smiling_face:

As long as the bearing runs smoothly I donā€™t think the quality of the lubricant matters much in a fidget spinner made from skate bearings. You are never going to wear it out with next to no load.

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for sure but if we can make it spin 5% faster with different lube, i mean, isnā€™t it the right thing to do? :smiley:

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It think it would spin for longer, rather than faster, with a very thin low friction lubrication. I have some PTFE spray that might fit the bill.

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