I'm working on project which requires a reliable and robust mechanism for rotating discs in a wall mounted enclosure. The project is an 800x800x50mm enclosure, with the top surface being a series of discs that rotate (max 1 rpm) around a central point via a stepper motor. The discs don't overlap and they will rotate at different speeds. They also need to be flush with each-other and be very stable. Here's a very rough sketch, with 3 discs highlighted in bright colours:
I'm not fully set on the material that the discs will be made of, but the top surface is likely acrylic or 3mm wood. Weight of each ring will be tbc, but it won't be much more than the surface material. I'll be manufacturing this myself and have access to a CNC machine, laser cutter and the usual hand tools.
As reliability (needs to be maintenance free for years) and stability are important, I was thinking about machining a series of tracks in a piece of aluminium, to make slewing bearings. They are SO expensive to buy, and I'm limited to several hundreds of pounds budget. I have found some "lazy susan" thrust bearings on Amazon which may work, although there are no teeth to allow direct drive from a stepper motor. This project will be mainly wall mounted, but will likely be transported flat, so I need a combination of axial and radial load on the bearings.
My question is... what sort of mechanism would you imagine works best for providing this series of flat rotating discs, mounted vertically? A series of slewing bearings would work well, but is expensive and perhaps over-engineered.
I'm not fully set on the material that the discs will be made of, but the top surface is likely acrylic or 3mm wood. Weight of each ring will be tbc, but it won't be much more than the surface material. I'll be manufacturing this myself and have access to a CNC machine, laser cutter and the usual hand tools.
As reliability (needs to be maintenance free for years) and stability are important, I was thinking about machining a series of tracks in a piece of aluminium, to make slewing bearings. They are SO expensive to buy, and I'm limited to several hundreds of pounds budget. I have found some "lazy susan" thrust bearings on Amazon which may work, although there are no teeth to allow direct drive from a stepper motor. This project will be mainly wall mounted, but will likely be transported flat, so I need a combination of axial and radial load on the bearings.
My question is... what sort of mechanism would you imagine works best for providing this series of flat rotating discs, mounted vertically? A series of slewing bearings would work well, but is expensive and perhaps over-engineered.
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