Thread: Felt suitable for spindle and supplier thereof

Hi everybody,

Happy new year to you all.

I am looking for advice on what type of felt would be suitable for a surface grinder spindle that runs on plain bearings. And who might supply it.

I did get some from a local supplier in Melbourne and it looked good, but it it is full of very fine grit and the fibres just seem to go everywhere - so not that great for a low clearance spindle. Not their fault really - this is at the extreme end of what felt might be expected to do I guess.

So I figuring it has to be very high quality, very clean, and a tight structure.

All help / advice appreciated.

Greg.

G/day Stray, i have bought felt from spotlight and they had quite a few types and thicknesses to choose from.
cheers shed

Probably closer to the mark would be the felt they use for piano repairs, as you want a high quality felt. I was able to buy some felt here in Adelaide some years back. I think the place is called 'Felt Fabricating', in Edwardstown. They sold by the metre from rolls 900mm wide and up. If you only want a small piece I may have some left over.

Michael

Hi there,

Not sure what thickness of felt you are after but I have bought engineering felt on ebay on several occasions. Here is an example:

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/FELT-Eng...2JLx:rk:3:pf:0

Simon

Try the bearing suppliers.

Phone for Felt Fabricating PTY Ltd : (08) 8374 1429

Hi Greg,

I've used billiard baize before now as oil wicks behind unshielded ball races in electric motors. There is a pool table supplier quite local to me who will throw out loads of the trimmings when they refurbish a table. The only difficulty is that it is very hard to cut it accurately without a pair of punches and because it is quite thin ( couple of mm ) you need three or more rings to get any thickness.

Wow, thank you all. That is quite some replies. Appreciated.

It is not just getting hold of some felt - but knowing the correct felt for this particular application. It is a very specific application I guess. There are many different engineering grades available (https://www.mcmaster.com/felt) and some better than others for very low viscosity oil like I am using (kero). Also things like high flow wicking, and compressibility (as the tolerences are very tight). Seems maybe the F5 type that mcmaster carr sells is the one - dunno (?).

JJ Davies seems to the local people here. That is where i got the felt I have presently. I believed it was engineering felt I got, but maybe that was not the case. And I didn't ask after the grade when I got it a while back. Interestingly, it is a 'sandwich' - that is the top and bottom of it seems to be made of a different (more pure) material than the 'filler'.

Everybody was on hols still this week so I'll contact Davies and the crew in SA as well (thanks for the details) next week. I'll post here with what I learn.

Thanks again,

Greg.

EDIT: It seems in Oz we have 'A' and 'B' grade engineering felts. Some interesting spiel here: A Grade Engineering Felt - Associated Gaskets. It doesn't seem very standardised though. Their A grade felt is 95% wool. These people have an A grade that is 70% wool ... https://www.swiftsupplies.com.au/a-g...ndustrial-felt

Hi Greg,

Looks like you have a number of possible sources, here is another - Felt Sales PTY LTD

Felt.JPG

Bob.

Thanks Bob. Seems they are about - sadly not too many of them say their products are 'suitable for 3000rpm spindle applications with 3 micron tolerance running oil that feels like water'. I wish they did!! )

I think I might just have to get some grades and see how they feel.

G'day, you might try J.J.Davies & Sons 1299 North Road Huntingdale. They have a large range of felts of all sorts.

Thanks shedeng, yep - that is where I got my current felt. With the grit and bits of wood in it. It was an off cut so who know what I ended up getting. I'll contact them this week.