Newsgroups: rec.crafts.metalworking
Subject: Re: Ball Bearings - how are they made
I have never found [a product] that is as
difficult to bulk feed as steel balls.
... get a large funnel, fill it half full of balls and see
how fast you can shake them out of the end. Truth is..you can't!
Regardless of the size of hole in the bottom!
They will flow until they form a bee hive
shaped cavity..actually an elliptical cross section..and there they will
stay..locked and no amount of shaking or poking will shift them!!
...
It seems reasonable to me that there are particular shapes and
or packing densities that resist locking in this way.
One recalls the hour glass which depends on quasi fluid motion.
But I have no doubt that this observation holds for precision ball
bearings (which were the subject of Robert's post.)
Is there some limiting ball diameter to aperture diameter ratio
that just prevents locking?