Smalley Blog

November 16, 2020	How and Why You Should Use a Wave Spring for Bearing Preload Preloading a Bearing: What is Preloading, How to Preload, Why Should You Preload a Bearing? What do we mean when we say “preload”? A bearing is designed to move freely and has multiple moving parts that work together as one unit. Tolerance stack up from both manufacturing and assembly can quickly cause issues. This is where preloading a bearing comes in. Preloading a bearing involves... Read More>>
November 3, 2020	What is a Retaining Ring? Smalley's Retaining Ring Overview Nails, screws, nuts, bolts, pins- the list goes on. What do these all have in common? They hold things together. When you staple a piece of paper or hang a painting on a wall, you’re joining two things together through the means of a fastener. So if we have many different types of fasteners, how do I know which one to use? Figuring out which fastener to use goes back to the application. Factors... Read More>>
October 19, 2020	Wave Spring Work Height and Compression What happens if I compress my wave spring below work height? Understanding how and when a wave spring can fail is important for achieving optimal performance in your application. One common reason a wave spring could fail is because of overstressing, otherwise known as over-compression of the spring. How do you overstress a wave spring? Compressing a wave spring below the design work height may... Read More>>
October 5, 2020	Wave Spring vs. Coil Spring What's the difference between a wave spring and a coil spring? Custom or standard, Smalley takes great pride in its unparalleled dedication to delivering quality wave spring solutions for a variety of industries. Both wave springs and traditional coil springs fall under the category of compression springs. While the primary function of a compression spring is to provide axial load, wave springs... Read More>>
September 21, 2020	Top 6 Advantages of a Wave Spring Do you have trouble finding a spring that fits in your application? Coil springs require large travel, making your application design less than optimal. Wave washers, coil springs, disc springs, the list goes on – these are all traditional springs that work well in many engineering applications. But what if you could have a more compact, light-weight design? Whether you have space constraints,... Read More>>
September 10, 2020	Ask the Expert - NACE Compliance Welcome back to Ask the Expert! This time, Smalley’s Expert Engineers answer questions about NACE compliance. What is NACE? NACE, the National Association of Corrosion Engineers, is a not-for-profit technical organization known worldwide as the authority for solutions in corrosion control. NACE works with many industries, such as marine, oil & gas, industrial, and utilities to create... Read More>>
August 24, 2020	Top 4 Advantages of Edgewinding over Stamping in Retaining Ring and Wave Spring Manufacturing Edgewinding, also known as the Smalley No-Tooling-Charges™ process, is the only manufacturing solution Smalley engineers trust to deliver precise yet flexible solutions to meet your retaining ring and wave spring needs. What is Edgewinding? Edgewinding has been the standard Smalley manufacturing process for over 50 years. Edgewinding is a precision forming process that involves coiling flat wire... Read More>>
August 10, 2020	#1 Reason for Retaining Ring Failure and How to Overcome It Drills, saws, sanders, and grinders - what do all of these power tools have in common? Retaining rings keep them from falling apart. A retaining ring’s function is to hold components or assemblies in place. For a retaining ring in a power tool, this is no easy feat as it is regularly exposed to high axial and vibrational force. The retaining ring must maintain its integrity, despite the various... Read More>>
July 27, 2020	How to Control Corrosion: Material Selection for Rings and Springs Welcome back to the Ask the Expert blog. The blog is designed to help educate you on all things retaining rings and wave springs. This week, we talk about what corrosion is and why it’s an important factor to consider when choosing the appropriate material for retaining ring and wave spring design. What is Corrosion and Why Does it Matter for my Application? Corrosion is a naturally occurring... Read More>>
June 23, 2020	Special Rings: Self-Locking, Balanced, and ID/OD Lock Smalley Spirolox Retaining Rings are the trusted industry solution because of their unique configuration, reliability, and convenience across thousands of applications. While we have five standard types of retaining rings broken down into 30 configurations, we also know that every application is unique. If one of our standard retaining rings does not fit your application requirements, we... Read More>>