EdW.... Thanks for the input.. I use these in many places on my Helicopters for 'Thrust Relief'.. I am going give the Bronze loaded PTFE bushes a try, as I think they will work behind the prop underwater.. If they fail I'll try the ball type of thrust bearing on the 'dry' end of the tube!

EDIT..
I wondering now how any Bearing would manage in the muddy environment at the end of a Boat Propshaft. Maybe as EdW suggests any Thrust Bearing will have to be mounted inboard!

DG

@DGoss999 I have used thrust bearings like these before and found then to work well but I put them at the motor end of the prop shaft.

https://www.gearsandsprockets.co.uk/miniature-thrust-model-bearings/

I am planning on making a set of small Bronze loaded PTFE thrust bushes for the Prop end of the propshaft. One will be a tight fit on the propshaft, the other will be shouldered to fit pressed onto the end of the shaft outer tube. I'll follow up with how this work out!!

DG

Hi Rodc I do not think the post has wandered off as the side issues even in this case have all been a talking point We have a machinists 'how to' and several members have used things to hand like the many sizes of brass tubing available.

There were more than a few makers of steam engines back then (?!). Most drilled holes at 1/2 inch intervals, even Marklin (Germany) made the equivalent of Meccano and kept the same hole spacing so it was a small marketing point for a steam engine to be compatible with other associated toys.

Lucky you, to have your set of Meccano set incremented each year, my presents were a Meccano set (a guaranteed success with me) but the number of the set was random and mostly an A set!

I also belong to a Meccano club as I love to see and smell the models and they are frequently very complex. An old type No. 10 set is a starter set, I asked how much was in a Block setting crane with a 12 foot long jib. The answer was about £4000 ( yes four thousand) of Meccano.

If any of you saw the Paddington Bear film with the Meccano fairground rides in, they were made by a friend of mine in the club. He comes up with enormous model Fairground rides 5+ feet high with flashing lights and with many moving parts.

Having a Meccano set as a child must have produced many engineers later on.
Regards
Roy

Phosphor bronze is the best bearing material however brass is adequate for the amount of side pressure that is made with a shaft and a brass bearing of about .250" (6.35mm) in length x 2 (one at each end).
Silver Steel BS1407 Tolerance for diameters less than 1" are ± 0.00025" on nominal diameter.
So measure your stock bar and go for a clearance for a plain bearing fit of
Minimum 0.0010" = 0.0254mm
Maximum 0.0015" = 0.0381mm.

In terms of producing this "FIT" its best achieved by drilling 0.0010" smaller than required size and then reaming (without coolant)
Reamers can be made to produce plus or minus from their stated size but this is something only an experienced engineer would be able to do.
So If you are using only drills, first drill about 0.015" smaller and then with the finished size. If a test drilling produces a hole oversize then again a drill can be made to drill smaller by touching the outer points with an oilstone to slightly blunt the cutting edge, we are however talking a small amount say 0.0005" to 0.001".
Finally lubrication is essential so an oiling tube should be fitted of greased on a regular basis.

roycv i had the real Meccano back in the mid-1950s. I used to receive an "upgrade set" each Christmas. By 1965 i had the highest complexity grade+i had been gifted 2 clockwork motors. I never had an electric motor altho my parents did gift me a stationary steam engine whose bolt-hole pattern matched Meccano ( I dont recall the mfgr but it was NOT Mamod or Wilesco(?) ). Ran it dry & the boiler leaked afterwards so then i put a piece of aquarium hose between a propane torch pipe & the steampipe & ran it on propane vapour a few times until it finally seized up. But i digress. Sorry for hyjacking this thread😔

Rogal118: You asked a simple (but very good) question. I hope in all these words you are able to figure out how much clearance you need between your shaft and tube.

Lew
Florida 😮, USA

Hello Rod, Meccano is a bit of a generic name now. But I have a confession to make as I have a Meccano set still.

As I said the only similar open frame motor was with Trix. But after a working visit to the Nuremberg Toy Trade Show in the '90's I was amazed at how many different construction sets there were around the world.

The Meccano electric motors like the E20R are from very old designs I have the original design, my one from 1940, for the E20R which is called an E120 and after a little work it now works very nicely.

Regards
Roy

Reminds me of a meccano set

Hi again, the last bearing job was on an electric motor a few years ago. It is an old style type motor, but new, this one was part of an obscure Indian toy construction set.

In this case there were no bearings at all. The shaft spins in a plain ally side support for the motor. I made a bearing and found some brass tubing to fit and some more to fit over that and a light soldering holds them together. There was about an inch to make both bearings. I soldered a tight fitting washer to an end.

I used a tapered reemer to slowly open up the existing bare hole. The bearing was a tight fit and then cut to size. I made the other and fitted the 2nd. one. When all bolted together again and some power applied I knocked the 2 bearings to get them to settle, cleaned the area and applied some superglue.

The motors ( I have 2 ) are surprisingly powerful not like the Trix similar motors, this one is driving some Mamod 'toys' and is to entertain the young and not so young at our club exhibition.

You can see the multi-tube bearing with the brass washer showing.

The silver frame motor is as original but a friend fitted bearings for me. I have seen this same motor in an early (1947) GB model boat, so it's antecedents are a bit puzzling.

Regards
Roy