From: John De Armond
Newsgroups: alt.energy.homepower
Subject: Re: home bru hydro update: so far so good
Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2008 14:32:51 -0400
Message-ID: <ocv7u31qvp0echkop26fq6i9aoim40mii6@4ax.com>

On Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:16:04 -0500, z <z@yada.yada.com> wrote:

>http://www.jeffersonfreestate.org/hh/
>
>The beast is on its first real long term test.  4 hours running and
>counting.

Forgot to mention in my previous post.  I like your shaft support.  I was going to
suggest an aluminum RV jackstand.  Great minds think alike and all that.

Anyway, you might want to get a hunk of Lignum Vitae wood to use as your bearing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lignum_vitae

LV is the densest wood known.  It's ebony black, hard as many metals and is worked
with metal working tools.  Because it is water-lubricated, it is still used as both
the thrust and main bearings of large water pumps.  The 50,000 HP river water pumps
at the Sequoyah nuclear plant use LV for both bearings, for example.  LV is sometimes
called "ironwood" but there are other species also called ironwood so don't let that
confuse you.

This wood is available from any of the specialty wood vendors on the net that cater
to carvers and furniture makers.  It's not terribly expensive, especially in the
small quantity you need.

Simply polish the shaft where it bears against the LV, bore and ream a close fitting
hole in the LV and mount it suitably.  It'll last a lifetime as long as it's kept
wet.  Ideally, you'd tee off a little supply of water to supply bearing water through
a hole drilled in the wood.  It should do OK with splash lubrication too.

John