Smalley Blog

August 5, 2022	How Smalley Conducts Spring Load Testing How does Smalley Tolerance Spring Rates and Loads for a Wave Spring? Traditional round wire coil springs are often defined by a tolerance on the free height (or uncompressed height of the spring) and a tolerance on the spring rate (or how much load is gained per unit of travel as the spring is compressed). Once compressed in your assembly, however, the spring will operate at one or more... Read More>>
May 23, 2022	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. What if there was a more compact, light-weight design? Whether you have space constraints, need more... Read More>>
April 4, 2022	Common Issues with Traditional Fastening Methods for High RPM Capacity Applications and How to Overcome Them Before hearing about Smalley’s high RPM solutions, the most common issues experienced with traditional fastening methods for high rotational capacity applications include: Bulky designs containing additional components Increased development time Increased production and assembly time Higher overall cost Fastening failure, the worst of them all This blog will discuss some of the traditional... Read More>>
April 1, 2022	Revolox® ‘Dome and Slot’ Self-Locking Ring: What is it, How Does it Work, and When Should I Use One? What is a Revolox® ‘Dome and Slot’ Self-Locking Ring? Let’s first define what a self-locking ring is. Spirolox®, a division of Smalley, invented self-locking rings back in 1958. There are two types of self-locking rings, ‘Tab and Slot’ and ‘Dome and Slot’. So, what is it? A self-locking ring is a custom retaining ring feature that increases a ring’s rotational capacity. They are typically... Read More>>
March 31, 2022	'Tab and Slot' Self-Locking Ring: What is it, How Does it Work, and When Should You Use One? What is a ‘Tab and Slot’ Self-Locking Ring? Spirolox®, a division of Smalley, invented the ‘Tab and Slot’ Self-Locking Ring back in 1958. The innovative design has been proven in thousands of high-speed applications. So, what is it? Let’s first define what a self-locking ring is. A self-locking ring is a custom retaining ring feature that increases a ring’s rotational capacity. They are... Read More>>
March 23, 2022	How to Increase Rotational Capacity for a Retaining Ring Importance of Retaining Ring RPM Performance With rotational capacity requirements of modern applications higher than ever, many engineers struggle to find retaining rings that can withstand high speeds. If an engineer settles for alternate solutions to retaining rings, it often results in more assembly time and costs more money, or even worse, fails in the application. What limits a retaining... Read More>>
March 1, 2022	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>>
February 15, 2022	New Tapered Section Retaining Ring (Circlip) Series Released New Tapered Section Retaining Ring (Circlip) Series Released Lake Zurich, IL, February 15, 2022 – When you are in need of a quick and economical heavy-duty ring, Smalley's newest standard series of Tapered Section Retaining Rings (Circlips) is here to secure your assembly! With over 100 years of manufacturing excellence, Smalley is the Engineer's Choice® for supplying or designing the right... Read More>>
February 3, 2022	Invention, History, and Timeline of the Wave Spring Invention, History, and Timeline of the Wave Spring Brief History of Springs Springs have been helping the world go around for thousands of years. In fact, spring technology goes back to the “bow and arrow” ages. A non-coiled spring was used in a bow and arrow dating back 64,000 thousand years ago. The first coiled spring was invented in 1763 by R. Tradewell, but the first steel coil spring wasn... Read More>>
January 26, 2022	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>>