From Need to Innovation

The 3d Printed Hybrid Wire Race Bearing that started it all
The 3d Printed Hybrid Wire Race Bearing that started it all

This started with a camera rig

I was building a motion-control rig for timelapse photography — a robot that could move a camera on a programmed path during a long exposure. For the roll axis I needed a large-diameter bearing, around 30cm. Nothing off the shelf fit. So I started looking at wire race bearings.

FRANKE's wire race bearing principle
FRANKE’s wire race bearing principle

The Wire Race Bearing Problem

Wire race bearings are a niche engineering concept: instead of machined rings, the bearing races are formed by tensioned steel wire, with balls running directly on the wire surface. Franke patented the principle in 1934. They’re lightweight, compact, and can be built in geometries that conventional bearings can’t achieve. For my purposes, they were the right solution.

My first attempt was around fifteen years ago, with aluminium housings. It worked, but was complicated to make. I came back to the idea more recently with a 3D printer and a better understanding of what I was doing. The question was whether printed housings could replace machined ones and still produce a functional bearing.

They could, with caveats. I made a video about the process. Hackaday wrote about it in December 2021, which I hadn’t anticipated.

A Tool That Didn’t Exist

To build the bearing I needed straight, consistent wire stock. At industrial scale that’s a solved problem. At home shop scale, with a small bench, there was nothing practical. I built a straightener. Then a ring roller, because forming wire into precise-diameter rings had the same problem.

From YouTube to WireTools

I put both on YouTube as documentation, not as products. The requests to buy started before I’d considered selling. First a few, then enough to take seriously. I set up on Etsy, shipped the first units, and started getting feedback.

The feedback changed the designs. The Wire Ring Roller is on its fifth version. The straightener on its third. Not incremental tweaks — each iteration fixed something real. And the use cases turned out to be broader than what I’d built for: metalsmiths, cage fabricators, electricians, people building LED arrays, miniature helmet grilles for collectible models. The tools solved a problem across contexts I hadn’t imagined when I made them for myself.

Where It Stands Now

WireTools is still a one-person side project. The tools are 3D printed — PETG bodies, metal hardware where it matters. Sized for a small shop, priced for one too.

The YouTube channel and the Hackaday article are still up, if you want to see where this came from.