Suggestions for making 3 concentric axles
Greetings.
I want to build a large orrery (mechanical display of the planets orbits, google it) and I find that I need 3 independant rotating motions on the one axis. This is usually done in orreries with precision telescoping brass tube, like from K&S from hobby shops, but what I am building is large, and heavy, a few kilos, but rotating very slowly, the fastest will be 1 rpm. The axis is vertical, most of the load is vertical but the drive will give a bit of side force. Since I have no lathe (but I do have a drill press) most of my work is with steel and I tend to weld things together a lot, just with tacks if I might want to dismantle it one day.
What I am thinking is to use the black industrial pipe available from steel suppliers 15NB, 20NB & 25NB (medium wall thickness) (OD's 21mm, 27mm, 34mm) which from the pipe tables are a reasonable fit inside each other, maybe 0.5mm clearance, and just grind off the high spots until I have tubes that all turn with no binding. Is there any reason why this won't work? Then lots of dry lube to keep it turning freely (grease attracts dust which turns to grinding paste).