I'm not too familiar with bearings, but I need to find a thin-section ball bearing for a piece of apparatus I'm working on and get it asap. The bearing needs to have a 12'' to 14'' bore (13 inches or 320mm is the best, but I haven't found any that fits the other requirements), have a width of less than 1'', and be double sealed. It will be going at 300rpm, with not that much load. The closest I found to this is the Kaydon JU120CP0. However, I haven't been able to find anywhere that has it in stock, and I really need it fast. Does anybody know where I can get this bearing or another bearing similar to this one quickly?

Tony

I would turn to someone working with heavy machinery and search their spare parts store. I think that I have seen that kind of bearings in paper mills, steel mills and also harbours, in the ship to shore gantry cranes and wide reach trucks. The Maersk terminals are usually well stocked. So, if you have one of those nearby, it could be worth a try.

The 1" width is probably the biggest problem. You may have to relax that spec a bit.

Gunnar Englund
www.gke.org
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100 % recycled posting: Electrons, ideas, finger-tips have been used over and over again...

Thanks for the tips. The width could possibly go up to 2''. However, I forgot to say above, if anyone knows where to get a bearing like that, but fully ceramic/aluminum/brass, that would be fantastic, since the bearing will be working near a detector extremely sensitive to the magnetic fields/interference that will be induced by the rotating steel bearing.  

Brass or aluminum are not an option for the balls, only for the cage. Ceramic balls in a bearing that size can be had but will be very expensive and also not off the shelf.

There is a possibility to put a magnetic shield between bearing and detector. Are you sure it is so sensitive that magnetic field from the balls will interfere with it?

Gunnar Englund
www.gke.org
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100 % recycled posting: Electrons, ideas, finger-tips have been used over and over again...

Yeah the bearing will have to be made of ceramic balls and non-steel caging, and it should operate at -40 C. Do you have any recommendations as to where to get such a bearing or to have it made without a minimum quantity? I just need one such bearing.

I know that SKF have delivered bearings with 100 - 150 mm ID (probably larger) and stainless steel cage (non magnetic). You should talk directly to them. I visited their office in King of Prussia, PA once and they seem to know about these bearings. And there is always the international HQ in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Be prepared to pay - and to wait for delivery.

The Chinese are delivering lots of ceramic balls. At 300 RPM, it would be possible to assemble and "roll your own" if you can buy the balls from China.

Gunnar Englund
www.gke.org
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100 % recycled posting: Electrons, ideas, finger-tips have been used over and over again...

Thank you very much! I have emailed SKF, and I'll see what happens. Do you any links/info/books about "rolling my own" bearings?

RBC and Kaydon make thin section ball bearings like this. They are expensive and can have long lead times if not a common size. We purchased some RBC through Kaman that were in stock at RBC.

Ed Danzer
www.danzcoinc.com
www.dehyds.com

You can also try a custom manufacturer, but anywhere you go, leadtime will be an issue.  Most bearing manufacturers have been running full out for the last several years and probably will not have much interest in a single custom bearing when they have 2+ years leadtime on existing customers.  I would suggest contacting BMC in Strongsville OH, they make low quantity custom bearings all the time, and also have a huge warehouse with surplus bearings they purchased throughout the world and may have what you are looking for.

www.bmcbearings.com

Call Consolidated Bearing. They have the best inventory control in the business. www.consolidatedbearings.com

They will refer you to a distributor in your area if they have the bearing

Russell Giuliano
 

Google "Slewing Bearings."

Thank you all for the tips. At this point I'm more interested in a bearing that's either fully ceramic, or have ceramic balls with aluminum/bronze/some kind of plastic body, so it'll probably need to be custom made. Indeed most manufacturers have a large min. order and long lead times, so I'm investigating the possibility of rolling my own bearing with ceramic balls as Skogsgurra suggested, since it won't have a heavy load and won't go that fast. I will talk  to the shop guys at the university I'm working at tomorrow, but do you think it's a good idea to get it made here when we obvious rarely make bearings?

You do not MAKE the bearings - you just assemble them - there's a big difference.

Gunnar Englund
www.gke.org
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100 % recycled posting: Electrons, ideas, finger-tips have been used over and over again...

http://www.consbrgs.com/page.taf?detail=76_1_15

This url seems to list competitors cross reference
numbers for the same bearing.  Maybe that will help.

There is a place in Georgia that helped me find a bearing I looked for for 6 months.  They found the bearing in about 2 hours.  Their name is Dalton Bearing and I think there website is www.daltonbearing.com.  Good Luck!

You sure know what "their" web site is. Don't you?

Nothing wrong with helping people out - but it's better say up front that you can do it. No one will blame you for that.

Gunnar Englund
www.gke.org
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100 % recycled posting: Electrons, ideas, finger-tips have been used over and over again...