Friday 28 June 2013

SMB's bearing relubrication facility...

Did you know that we can relubricate bearings for you, for many different uses? 


We offer a relubrication service, for either our own miniature bearings or customer supplied bearings.  You can even supply your own lubricant to us.  We have our own facility here at SMB bearings & can quickly solve a wide range of issues for you. 


Most manufacturers will only offer specialist lubrication in large volume orders, but we have no minimum order quantity for this service, so if you just need a small quantity for a bespoke application, or for testing, we can help.  If you have an emergency, we'll be flexible in supplying the bearings to you asap, you won't have to wait for a factory to produce 1000's of bearings... 


We have many years of experience in degreasing and re-lubricating stainless steel, chrome steel, and hybrid bearings with customer specified lubricants.


We regularly supply our bearings, or your own bearings, with:

dampening greases

dry lubricants

food safe greases

high temperature lubricants

low temperature lubricants

low torque lubricants

molybdenum disulphide coating

perfluorinated lubricants

radiation-resistant lubricants

vacuum lubricants

waterproof greases



Why not contact us with your requirements & our skilled technicians can advise you... 




Road Trip! Aaron Skipping's Euro tour...

Watch our Europe, Aaron's on the way!


Downhill skater Aaron Skippings says: "I've been knuckling down with work at the moment and getting ready for my euro trip in a few weeks! Hopefully I'll see Spoky (Spoky Woky - aka Marie Bougourd, an awesome French downhill skater) out there too.  I should do - I'll be skating in Switzerland, then off to Germany straight after for the German championships on the 17th-20th July....

Almatrieb 17th - 20th July...
 Marie's (Bourgourd, aka Spoky Woky) been doing amazing at the moment! Shame about her crash in california but shes always my favourite skater girl! ;D.


The legend that is Spoky Woky showing her moves Stateside...
Did you see the new leathers? I,m loving them! Looking like a sweaty wasp people call me  - haha!
Big love for helping me get them though SMB - wouldnt have them without you guys!"

 
Aaron looking awesome in his new leathers...

 Thanks, always glad to help Aaron - let's hope they keep you safe &
that the skate bearings we've sent you for your trip keep you rolling faster than the competition! :-)


Thursday 27 June 2013

Ian Emery, RC Heli pilot news update...

We're delighted to bring you some news from our friend Ian Emery, who has very kindly taken some time out of his hectic schedule to bring us this update on his season so far (& the build-up to it):

"It seems like such a long time since I last sat down and wrote something for the blog" (ed. All is forgiven Ian - we love hearing from you, whenever you get the chance). "I have had quite an eventful winter and workup to this year’s season. I had completely re-built the helicopter to check for wear and tear and replace any parts that were required. All bearings were fine and would be good for another season.


Having spoken to the team at SMB I had decided to use rubber sealed bearings on the main mast and these were really holding up well" (ed. rubber seals are really effective at keeping lubricant in & dirt out, but they do cause drag so you wouldn't want them in the engine - find out more about bearing closures here).

"This year’s goal was to compete in the F3C class and training was going really well, that was until 1 week before the proposed first competition at Tring.

I had just completed a schedule and was beginning my Auto-Rotation. I realised that I was going to be a little short of the landing spot so thought I would bailout and try again. I switched the throttle hold switch off expecting the head speed to increase within a second or so. Its funny how things don’t turn out as you expect, my Speed Controller failed and the helicopter fell to the ground.

I managed to keep the helicopter level, but the undercarriage strut cracked resulting in the helicopter falling on its side. Initially I thought I had got away with only minimal damage but on closer inspection there were quite a few items that would need replacing. I won’t mention what brand the speed controller was, but I can say the customer service was brilliant and the UK supplier replaced the controller within a week. It was going to prove too much work to have the helicopter ready mainly because the parts I needed were out of stock. Rather fortunately the first competition was cancelled the day before due to bad weather; this would give me extra time to get things sorted.



Ian (3rd from right) with fellow competitors at Scottish HeliNats 2013

The next competition I was planning to attend was the Scottish Helicopter Nationals near Aberdeen. I finally got the spares I needed 4 days before I left to travel to the competition and although I got it back together again, I only had time for 2 flights before I left, and that was spent checking the new speed controller. I decided to take my Trex 700e F3C with a newly fitted flybarless head leaving the Rave ENV as my backup.

We finally arrived for the competition and because of the problems I had, I decided to fly the Sportsman’s schedule as this was the first competition that had gone ahead for 9 months that I could fly in. The first round, although a little nervous went quite well although for the Auto-rotation I was just looking to get the heli down in one piece. The second round was similar; a few silly mistakes but as always the judges on hand to provide some constructive feedback. By time my third flight came around the weather was beginning to turn and a band of sea mist was quickly approaching. This caught me out on 2 manoeuvres as my run-ins were slightly too far away and against the dark grey clouds the helicopter just seemed to disappear in them.

Nevertheless I managed to complete the schedule and managed to win all 3 rounds, although the other competitors flew really well and the scores were fairly close. This was the 25th Scottish Helicopter Championships and although it was a bonus to come away with Cup, it was a really enjoyable weekend at a fantastic venue with great hosts".



A quick chorus of Queen's "WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS" please!! :-)
Thanks for a cracking event report Ian, we wish you every success for the rest of the season.

If you want to find out more about how to get involved in RC helicopter flying,
check out the AHA website (Association for Helicopter Aerosports) 
or the HeliNats website & maybe even enter yourself for next year!

Monday 10 June 2013

Congratulations Ian Emery... victory at Scottish Heli Nats 2013



We had a flying visit earlier from Ian Emery, just on his way home from this weekend's
 Scottish Heli Nats in Aberdeen.  
Check out his results:


Ian Emery takes the top spot - YEAY!!!!

 We're delighted to announce that Ian returned with a gert big trophy too,
for clinching the top spot in the Sportsman flight event.

Ian clinched the biggest trophy -it's the corker in the middle...

When Ian has had a chance to absorb the news, we'll look forward to bringing you a full report of events - until then, we just wanted to say

 "CONGRATULATIONS IAN!!!!!"

Thursday 6 June 2013

Spoky Woky (aka Marie Bougourd), Downhill skater extroadinaire!!

Great video featuring our friend Spoky Woky,



showing the boys how downhill skating should really be done...




You can see Spoky Woky competing in the IDF summer series this year




We are sure Spoky Woky will achieve world domination very soon!

Check out her IDF page or see her blog for more news, results & antics :-)

Wednesday 5 June 2013

Schaeffer's new look YouTube page...


Our friend & skate legend Schaeffer Mclean always looks like the king of cool...
 

... and now so does his YouTube page!  Check it out & subscribe:



You can also follow Schaeffer on Facebook & Twitter...

Tuesday 4 June 2013

Spreading the word on Southend Skate Art Exhibition...


Cover Photo 


What's going on?  The organisers say:

"In Summary, we hope to create a day of celebration of skateboarding of all forms, in the local area, with a primary focus on Southend.

Skate culture, skate related art, skateboards, artists, music, video and more!



... Date: 22nd June 2013

Time: TBC 11:00 - 17:00

Place: The Alex - Southend



*(Some elements are subject to change and TBC)*

- Clothing stalls.

- Artists and artwork.

- Pop up Skate shops.

- Photography.

- Past a present skate videos.

- Fundraising.

- Local causes/issues/networking.

- Possible give-aways.



Including... Newton's Shred, Finch Photography, Brazil Arte, Alex and Gavin Martin's Media Archives.... more to follow.
Why are we doing this?

Together, 'Southend' and 'Skateboarding' have lived in the hearts of skateboarders, artists, photographers and film-makers, including hundreds of people, of all ages, spanning over several decades.

Over recent years skateboarding, in it's various forms, have seen a resurgence of interest, not only as an opportunity for artistic expression, but of good exercise, sustainable modes of transport and an opportunity to develop business and community, for those whom are perhaps excluded from other sports, physical or creative outlets.

The Southend Skate Art Exhibition hopes to show positive examples of Skateboarding in the area, both past and present, shining a light on local advocates, groups and art related around the skate and 'alternative' culture.

The Alex53 Alexandra Street, SS1 1BW Southend-on-Sea, UK"


Good luck everyone - hope it goes really well for you!