Jib - Bearings
The first picture below shows two bearings inside of the fork tubing. The bolt runs all the way through to the other side of the fork. The center picture below shows the view looking into the end of an aluminum length. The bearings can be seen inside of the aluminum tubing. These bearings are set up basicialy the same way as the ones discussed for the fork. The image below to the right shows the bearing set up from the outside.
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Below are images of the three types of bearings used to build the jib. The house key is to give an idea of the bearing size. The image to the left is the large thrust bearing used to allow the jib to swivel. The center image shows the small thrust bearing used to allow the bolt to spin with the fork. To the right is the style of bearing used at the center fork and at either ends of the jib. In all, I used 16 of the bearings in the image on the right, 8 at the center fork, and 4 at either end of the jib. These bearings come in differing qualities and specifications. I think the ones I used cost around $8.00 each from Kaman Industrial Technologies. Lucky for me, they have a store/warehouse a few miles from my house.
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I spent a great deal of time learning about bearings and figuring out how I was going to fit them with the metal. My best advice is to buy some bearings (make sure you can easily return them) and go rummage through the scrap bin at a nearby metal yard to get ideas as to what size and shape of metal to use with your jib.
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