The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-07-19
MAKING BALL BEARINGS.
ALL Used N THIS COUNTRY ARE
MADE BY THREE FIRWs.

Cups In the wheel Hubs.
Undoubtedly the greatest srep toward
the perfection OF the bicycle wis made
when the bah bearings idea vas discover
ed and applied 20 bicycle construction
without this the modern bicycle would Boz
an mpossihaity. and the care bestowed OF
the selection OF these Is an important fac
tor ia determining its rIuu.ns and wear
ing qualities These balls have -0 be per-
fecily round and are formed of solid. hard
steel Their manufacture requires large
capital Tor extremely elaborate and Well
contrlTed machinery. as Wei as great fkli
and care on The par. of the orSman- Ac-
cOrdug 10 the American Machiuist. the
balls are not made by The bicycle manufac-
turers. but by special concerns. three in
number: viz. the slmonls OF Fichburg.
Mass; the Excelsior. OF Bunllo. n. g..
and the cleveland Machine Screw Com
pany.' of Cleveland %. THE former two
manufacture make their balls hY roIliug
and griudlnc. and the Simonds people form
the rough blank Dy rolling with "a straight
line movement; the Excelsior boy rolling
with rotary face place movement, while
the Cleveland blanks are made 10y speclal
screw machines. The balls aIc afterwards
finished 10 all three factories boy special
machines. These balls are sold 10 the trade
clned size. II has been found lu practice.
however that ii rs necessary for the biz
cycle manufacturer TO have the balls
Eauged and sorted into lots which do not
vary more than one-fOur-thousandth OF an
inch in diameter. IL makes no difference
in cone-adiusted ball track whether the
balls are a thOusandth over or thousandth
under a given diameter, but IL does make
a difference n the balls are not all of the
same diameter in a single cup Flat
balls also give rise TO serious trouble
This gauging is carried out by different
makers In various ways. One method IL
a workman watching the balls through
magnnying glass as they travel down
inclined ways, and who is supplied witn
magneuzed steel point. The ways are
closer at the top where they take the
ball, and spread out as they come down.
SO that the ball constantly drops nearer
and nearer TO the center as It travels Its
progress is constantly retarded by In
creasing friction until fl drops through
between the ways and falls into chute
which conveys IL to the box for use I'm fill
ing wheels. Flat balls linger on the way
ana SHOW ecCentricities in their move
ment, and are picked out of the line or
travel with the magnetized point The
operation IS slow and demands great care
on the part of the attendant, and ever
then this system is not entirely satisfa3-
tory Other companies employ special
automatic ball-gauging machines OF fine
tory. Other companies employ speciaf
design and construction.
The most accurate system, however, r.
that OF hdnd-gauging with special MT
crometers which gives the closest .p-
prOach 70 uniformity and detects fiat balls
with certainty. These micrometers are
operated by girls, who make six differ
eht diameter readings for each ball Wis
ual record, and sort the balls to the near
est quarter of one-thOusandth OF an inch
The girls sort 5000 balls in a days WORK
Mhich requires 5000 readings. The OPP
eration Is VeSS hard on the eyes, although
the mfcrometer dials are large and the
light well shaded. These girls have TO pay
the closest attention to their work and
90 not engage in conversation. They
move the balls and micrometer screws
with such rapidity that IL seems almost
impossible that their readings should be
accurate, but the balls regauge in their
mierometers to the sizes designated when
measure by other hands.
rlllng the cups Is the next opera ton.
Inc operator sets the bicycle hub on a
nat stand, having bit to center the hub,
ana mis- the hub with a little sheet metal
tubular scoop filled from a box Of balls
A round block IS held in the center OF
the ball cup TO keep the balls from falling
Gown into the bore as he empties the
pans from the scoop into the hub. The
center block Is then removed, and the
operator takes up cup ard, after apply
ing It to the hub, brings the ram Of the
press down with his foot forcing the Gun
into place and combining the balls SO thai
they cannot drop out.
ne WOOD handle bar" says a bicycle
rider, lis bound to come Just as the wood
rim did. It's only a question of time a.
my opinion, when the wood handle bar
viii push its steel rival out of the market
70 great extent When the wood rim
was urst introduced manufacturers and
riders generally had no use for II In
England, particularly, II was condemned
az an idea that was dangerous 10 he en-
Outraged, but what was the result? Wood
rims are demanded by nine out of ten rid
ers. There are several wheels on the mar
ket which are largely constructed ont Of
WOOD, and wood is going TO grow steadily
~ favor heard the other day of a man
HVlhg IN the west who is said 10 have ma =
ents covering all the wood handle bars he
could devise. He believes that he can keen.
olher people from making them I fafl
70 see, though, how it will be possible for
that kind" Va
Something new in bicycle steps is one Of
III, ny IloAr recent patents pertaining to the
Wheel' me steps assist the rider in start
ing the machine before his foot has reach
ca the pedal in mounting The stems ave
SO arranged In connection with a spring
paw, ana ratched wheel secured 10 the
axe OF the rear wheel, that when the
weight OF the latter is thrown on the stem
the wheel receives a forward impulse
ne price OF wheels in 1897 is something
oon IKE to talk about before this sea-
son IS over" manufacturer is quoted a G
saying. I would like to finish selling 'o6
Wheets before I begin to talk about a.
SIM 1 must admit that 1 have given the
question OF prices for next year a great
deal OF thought 1 would like to see the
makers OF the high grades keep up TO s1OO
TOT that would give a guarantee with
every wheel sold that the makers would
be willing to spend more money in defend
ing. But fear they won't be able 10
keep the price up. The public seems TO
expect that, with all these failure and talk
OF failures, bicycles ought to be much
cheaper next season. 1t is funny, isn't IL.
that any reduction should be expected
from price that is breaking so MANY
manufacturers now, but it Is expected.
nevertheless. And I suppose It will come,
Yes. there will probably be two kinds of
'high-grade' wheels. There are people
who want the best and are willing to pay
TOR II. They had rather pay 500 for a
bloyie they know to be good than to save
lew dollars and run chances"
'Win the bicycles of 81 be heavier or
hghter than those Of the present year?'' a
maker of wheels was asked
Il don't believe that, as a general rule"
ne replied, there will be much If any
dinerence. The weights of '95 were too
iight-so light indeed, that great deal
or strength was sacrificed. The weights
OF SO Were better and. altogether satis-
factory, l believe. However baar %