9/16” Bearings, Those that can Do.?

There are many ‘closet engineers’ around every corner here; but there also lurks ‘ambulance chasers’ as well. Should you manufacture a bearing, and it somehow causes an injury (anything from a wear facet on a track to a torn printed piece), somebody somewhere crys” “Sue”. And they ain’t calling for their girlfriend. Few things - excessive taxes and regulations excepted - curb innovation more than the bottom feeders. :o) I’m just waiting for a Chinese innovator to flood the market with knock-off Kelseys. Try tort action with those guys. :o)

Mick,

I have a lathe, but it is in storage until I can make room for it in my garage. If I had it up and running, I would have probably already worked out some kind of alternative bearings for my rollers.

Regarding the 9/16” bearings for Craftsman/Kludge presses, the difficulty isn’t in making the things, the difficulty is in finding a bearing to work with that has suitable dimensions to act as a starting point. The relative thinness of the races relative to the 9/16” shaft diameter is a problem. Any bearing I’ve found with a suitable, or sleeve-able ID has too large of an OD.

Finally, on this side of the Atlantic, home shop machinists are few and far between. I think it’s more of a cultural thing than a liability thing. People just aren’t into making things anymore, sadly.

Forme, with respect, I was not implying *Making a Bearing* I was offering “Bruce cpd” and subsequently *Enriquevw* and probably others yet to post, a Means to an End, I.E. a *Jury Rig* to keep printing,
70/80% of Letter Press methods as seen on this site (B.P.) should have H. & S. and *Ambulance Chasers* having Heart attacks, but surely this is the way it has to be.??
My *Jury Rig* as a *Keep on Truckin* syndrome is hardly confrontational compared to, >pictured on B.P. 1,001 times<, Open Crank Gears, Exposed Pulleys/Belts, Treadles with bits of wood, Baler twine, Flywheels Being pushed, (the wrong way) and possibly one of the *Best/Worst* ones? Formes locked up (or otherwise) with ONE Quoin & One piece of furniture traversing a large Chase/Forme, thats *Ambulance Chasers* dreams come true.
Against the basis of some of the preceeding, (possibly rubbish but Feel Free) would you tell *Bert Munro,s Grandson*, he Can NOT Run the Bonneville Salt Flats, in case he burst a tyre and Kills Himself, or better yet, perhaps H. & S. may have to scrap *THE* U S S Nautilus because the Propellor Shaft bearings, are *Bits of Wood* or *Jury Rig* with >LIGNUM VITAE<

On behalf of Bruce & Enriquevw, Thanks to Ad Lib Press, for the constructive comments re *Oilite Bronze, Machined down* as a possible solution.?.

Thank you Mick for your guidance on working up “jury rig” with pictures.
Thank you Keelan, I agree with your assessment. I would like to find a commercial product that I could use with as little modification as possible. I would rather have a shielded roller bearing with a collar or some such arrangement because these things collect alot of dirt, ink and dust and I want them to last.
Bruce

Bruce, appreciate you response, really did do a fair amount of research, with a little help, from our local bearing stockists, (for my own Amusement, Amazement & Learning curve, 200 yrs. old and still trying)!!!
Extensive trawling verifies that *your* particular requirements are indeed, an obsolete animal, or virtually.!!!
My humble efforts were however, based on the acquisition of an unusual bearing, of German origin, fully enclosed (packed for life, which in my experience is never quite true) ** See footnote, but according to the publicity and technical schedule is a *Compound Bearing, incorporating a full needle roller track and also full ball bearing track, combined, not stated but, by implication! Hi Torque, Hi Strength etc, with common outer track, & common inner track Sleeves, vast range of Metric only sizes,?? But fully sealed, and with (apparently) excellent Longevity prospects.
But (always another but) would still require minimum of 4 Sleeves,?? & 4 outer track/bearers.. !!
I did genuinely try to ascertain 9/16” expressed in Metric terms, it DOES NOT equate, and after 3/4/5 coffee,s I admitted defeat and gave up anyway.!! Sorry Buddy.

Is it worth just one little Enquiry to your own *Tar Heel roller Co* out of Clemmons, N.C.? May have encountered the problem.? Very helpful to me 2/3 years ago, via Email. Good Luck. Mick.

***This *Packed for life* does not always run true to form, hence since a long time ago:- here, mainly with printing machines but other applications as well, we would if practical and possible pull the bearings of, (before they collapsed from lack of grease) put them in Metal container with H.M.P. (High Melting Point) grease and/or Vaseline, warm the can up with D.I.Y. blowtorch, and literally allow the grease to Leech back into the bearing(s).
It really does prolong the life, of the bearings, and if pure 100% Vaseline is used, in the *can* with the blow torch played gently on, when the Vaseline becomes completely transparent, IT IS Leeching back into the bearings, does not need to Boil, but left to cool down, bearings still in the can, removed when cool, excess grease wiped of, and the *FEEL* is just as when they are brand new, try it. (with safety on the blowtorch)??? of course!!!!!

Here’s a thought — these bearings go on the very end of the roller cores, there’s no reason the end of the core couldn’t be turned down to fit a suitable metric bearing. The 6801ZZ is a fine candidate, two bearings and a sleeve would make a perfect bearing for these rollers:

rollermajig.jpg

Last year we had a roller come apart and the core looked as though it was not a solid rod but was created with layers of metal that cracked apart in places. If that is true then milling it might not work. If I’m going to do some milling I think I’d rather make a bushing out of brass or plastic that would fit all the rollers in the shop then have to mill every roller that needs a new bearing.
I just got a reply from another bearing manufacturer, Emerson, and they don’t seem to have anything I can use either.

I found a manufacturer of Teflon tubing that will make tubing at 9/16 ID x 1-1/8 OD. They are not cheap but I could get plenty of tubing and make one cut to width size and be done. Sometime soon I will order and test the Teflon to see how it wears, etc.
Bruce