Smalley Blog

May 12, 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>>
May 8, 2020	Top 6 Overlooked Benefits of a Custom-Engineered Design Could switching to a custom save you money? Picture this – you’re looking at our retaining ring selection guide to find a ring suitable for your application. You locate a ring series that looks promising. You flip through the catalog in search of the standard part, only to discover that the required dimensions don’t quite line up. At this point, should you redesign your assembly to... Read More>>
April 27, 2020	Ask the Expert - Tensile Strength vs. Hardness: Importance for Wave Spring and Retaining Ring Design 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 tensile strength and why it’s important in wave spring and retaining ring design. To ensure you know how a material will perform in a working environment, several physical properties can be measured to better understand material behavior.... Read More>>
April 14, 2020	Helping the Fight versus COVID-19/Coronavirus As a leading supplier to the medical industry, Smalley provides products and engineering expertise to support our customers worldwide, including the needs of the essential businesses that we supply. Our manufacturing plant located in Lake Zurich, Illinois remains fully functional and Smalley has taken numerous actions in response to the coronavirus to protect the health and safety of our team... Read More>>
April 2, 2020	Raising the Bar for Customer Experience - Web Store and Live Chat Smalley takes great pride in not only providing the best possible retaining rings and wave springs, but also for its legendary customer support. We’re pleased to announce the launch of two new additions to our Customer Support Program: Smalley Web Store and Live Chat customer support for U.S based visitors. Smalley Web Store You can now order standard wave springs, retaining rings, and... Read More>>
March 23, 2020	How We Package our Wave Springs and Retaining Rings I’ve found the perfect retaining ring or wave spring, but how do I get it here? The logistics of shipping and packaging can be a headache when you’re working with components of all sorts of shapes, sizes and quantities. To help simplify the process we’ve highlighted some of the key ways that Smalley can get you the parts you need quickly and efficiently. Bulk Polybag This is the most common... Read More>>
March 9, 2020	Smalley’s Finishes for Retaining Rings and Wave Springs Whether you need added corrosion resistance or simply want to change the appearance of your part, Smalley has a wide range of finishing processes to ensure that your retaining rings and springs perform the way it needs to in your application. Below is a list of some of the more common choices Smalley has available. Oil Dip is a standard finish for all of Smalley’s products produced in carbon... Read More>>
February 3, 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? 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 providing a sustained... Read More>>
January 10, 2020	Wave Spring Guide: A Brief Overview While finding the best possible design solution can be challenging, knowing what options are available can make it easier for you. One option Smalley provides is a wave spring. A wave spring, a type of compression spring, is a solution that optimizes space concerns while providing form, fit, and function. So what is a wave spring? Let’s start by defining what a spring is. Most people have used... Read More>>
December 16, 2019	Smalley's CAD Library Smalley leads the way in designing and manufacturing retaining rings and wave springs. We know how important it is to visualize your design, so we offer CAD models for our entire product line. All of our standard parts are available for immediate download from our interactive, parametrically drawn CAD library. If you're looking at a custom design, you can always request a custom CAD model... Read More>>