Vibration Free
Vibration analysis specialists since 1998
PC’s Projects Editor Matt Tomkins popped in to see ‘Wobbly’ Steve Smith at Vibration Free this month (find out why in his Staff
Car Saga next month). On one side of Steve’s Oxfordshire workshop sit a number of extraordinarily accurate digital balancing machines, some of which are of Steve’s own design. There’s also a selection of drilling and milling machines for the strategic removal of material, scales and balances, calculators and notepads galore all full of notes.
On the other side of the workshop are a pair of ramps on which Steve is able to carry out balancing of pretty much any rotating component within a complete car. He’s able to remotely mount his measuring equipment and work using keyhole surgery to prevent the need for expensive and time-consuming disassembly, either here in his workshop or even on site in customer’s own shed. Not today, though. On the ramp is Steve’s Hotchkiss, an incredible 22 foot long recreation of a legendary record breaker clad in a perfect recreation of the aluminium body in which the original car averaged 106mph over 500 miles, including four pit stops, at Brooklands.
With work ranging from vintage aero engines to the latest Formula 1 cars, machine tools to a host of consumer products, the wide range of static and dynamic equipment and expertise available is simply staggering. Removing imbalance from rotating and reciprocating components within an engine not only allows the energy formerly used to create unwanted vibrations to be harnessed for producing power, but also reduces side loadings on bearings which, in turn, increases engine life. Steve’s digital measuring equipment is able to precisely and repeatedly pinpoint imbalance on a rotating shaft to 0.01g, and the tools are specifically calibrated to each job, ensuring perfection every time.
As well as using his expertise to balance existing components, Steve also produces a range of engine dampers that act as torsional vibration absorbers, absorbing vibration energy from crankshafts and thus reducing the risk of breakage in heavy use. These Sterling Dampers are available for a range of engines, and are available either as front pulleys or flywheel dampers, or clutches for where space is at a premium.