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I apologize if this question has been asked or the answer is obvious. I am unfamiliar to the terminology so searching things up is a major difficulty.

I have two flat, long pieces of wood and I want to 'mate' their ends such that both can rotate about that point. I call it a 'rotating joint.' The two pieces of wood would be overlapping. Here is a video of what I am attempting to build:

https://fredericphilips.wordpress.com/projects/swarm-robots/hardware/gripper-design/

The 'joints' can be seen in the four areas, two on each arm.

I would appreciate help determining what components I need and how they come together.

After research, what I believe I need is a bolt, a bearing/bushing and a nut. I would drill a hole, insert the bearing, insert the bolt through the bearing, and tighten with a nut.

Michael Karas
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user2316667
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2 Answers2

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I would not use a bolt for this, although you can. There are various ways to do this. The simplest just requires a rod and two push caps.

Drill a hole through the wood and sand it with a fine circular file to fit a rod. Cut the rod to size using (for example) a cutoff disk. Get two push caps and use them to secure the rod/axle. Push caps look like this and you can find them in any hardware store:

push cap

They are also called "roller caps". To make a smoother action you can insert a bushing in each piece of wood, but that is probably overkill.

Tyler Durden
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What you're looking for is called a roto hinge - you can buy it from Rockler

Jeff
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