Master maker, cartoonist, author, and artist Tim Hunkin spent his pandemic downtime producing a series, “The Secret Life of Components”, to introduce designers and builders to the bits and pieces he uses in his fanciful machines.
This installment covers the components that keep things spinning: the many kinds of bearings, from simple holes in materials to elaborate recirculating ball bearings.
Did you know that the main propeller shaft bearing of the world’s first nuclear powered submarine, USS Nautilus, was made of wood (lignum vitæ)?
