9/16 inch bearings

Hi everyone,
I’ve read through several previous threads related to the 9/16 x 1- 1/8 x 9/16 inch bearings that are used on Kluges and some C&Ps and I’ve tried to track down some of the suppliers that were mentioned but I haven’t been able to fine a decent quality sealed or shielded bearing. There is an unshielded bearing available but it comes apart fairly quickly on the kluge and the balls go flying out.
I’ve posted a picture of the old shielded type bearing on the left and the new un-shielded bearing on the right which is available at many locations.
If I’ve missed the post that mentions this then please direct me, but I’m looking for a supplier for a good quality sealed or shielded bearing that we can use.
Thank you
Bruce

image: old and new bearing types.jpg

old and new bearing types.jpg

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the best quality bearings are SKF

Bruce,

How were you lubricating the bearings?

Thinking out loud here — material science has come a long way — maybe the bearings could be replaced with Teflon or nylon doughnuts? Most machine shops can turn these materials on a lathe.

Have you checked Bearings Inc.? They generally have just about everything commercially available, and branches in most cities.

Bob

If there is a part number on the original, a good partsman can cross-reference to a sealed bearing of suitability.
I had an oil-bath ball-bearing from a 1903 electric motor rattle itself to death; the counter-guys found an exact sized sealed match. Never oiled the motor after that. Curiously, it was an SKF. They’ve been in business a l-o-n-g time. :o)

I have the same bearings, there are no part number on the original bearings, or on the C&P parts diagrams. The originals are actually a slightly smaller bearing wrapped with a sleeve to bring the OD and thickness to spec. I wouldn’t call them shielded in the modern sense of the word, the sleeve is wrapped around the faces of the outer race, forming a shield of sorts. On my bearings, the balls are still visible. The originals are by no means precise.

In my research, I couldn’t find an exact match for the original bearing.

I work with Accurate Bearing:

http://www.accuratebearing.com

They have a lot of dealings with vintage machinery people and may be able to help. They’ve helped me out on a couple occasions with finding replacements based only on dimensions.

Thank you for your responses but it looks like there is no replacement for this size bearing as it used to be made. I have contacted the company that produced the bearing in the photo, on the left 30 years ago and all they would say is that they no longer produce it.
I have been to customer service for five different distribution companies that sell bearings from many different manufacturers and they all say that they cannot find a bearing that size except the one that is available from General Manufacturing in China, which has no shield and has not held up in my experience.
Does anyone else need this bearing size and see a problem in the near future if one is not available?
I like your idea Keelan about nylon, I look into that.
Bruce

im pretty sure SKF has what you need there is a calculator for convertion on their website http://www.skf.com/group/products/bearings-units-housings/ball-bearings/...

because i think they use metric system

Phase4,

SKF doesn’t have an exact match — even “back then”, inch-sized bearings were relatively uncommon.

The old bearing’s dimensions, converted to metric:

ID: 14.2875 mm
OD: 28.575 mm
Width: 14.2875 mm

The closest SKF match is the NA4902-2RS roller bearing:

ID: 15 mm
OD: 28 mm
Width: 14 mm

The bearing would fit, but it would be loose both on the core and in the saddle.

Bruce,

Are you keeping the bearing well greased? I’m wondering if it’s flying apart because the balls drying out and binding up. I was given a tube of tacky grease a couple years ago - you can touch your finger to it and draw out a string of grease a foot long; it has the consistency of melted hot glue. You might want to consider using something like that to grease the Chinese made bearings to at least extend their life. I can’t remember what make my grease is, but this stuff might be similar:

http://lucasoil.com/products/grease/red-n-tacky-grease

Hi Keelan, Its not really a grease problem. The chinese bearing comes with grease in it which you can see and it comes apart in the kluge sometimes in a couple days if its running at a moderately fast speed.
I have requests in for support at a couple places but for whatever reason this size range is just not made anymore seemingly.
I’m thinking if I can find a bearing with the correct 9/16” core and a OD less then what I need I could use a sleave of some sort to make up the difference but the only thing I see for that would be a needle type bearing and they seem to have a longer width so I’m still thinking.

Bruce, is it JUST coincidence that *needle roller bearings* have come to you in a dream, or has my OFF line, post filtered through, apologies if I see it incorrectly,!! slag me off by all means, or even a tiny nod for my efforts, possibly.??

No worries mate. If you suggested it first then credit to you. What is “OFF line post”?
Anyway, I haven’t seen any bearing; roller, needle or plastic that I can use yet. I’ve spent quite some time trying to figure this out which is why I posted the question in the first place. Thanks to all who responded. I’ll keep looking.

Speaking of needle bearings…

Koyo BH-98

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007EDXB8E

9/16” ID, 13/16” OD, 1/2” width. A sleeve could easily be machined make up the difference. The only catch is that the needles would run directly on the surface of the roller core.

So if the roller core rod is anything but smooth, there would be issues. I’ll have to inspect them before going that route.

“The only catch is that the needles would run directly on the surface of the roller core.”

I’m also interested in finding a solution, since I have a C&P Craftsman 10x15, and the bearings are not that good anymore.

For this application you might also consider oilite bronze bearings, which may be available in the size needed or a size such that they could be machined to the required dimensions. Oilite (https://www.oilite.com/index.asp) is a porous oil-filled bronze which is used in some electric motor shaft bearings, so they should be able to take the use.

Bob