High end German and Japanese miniature bearings from SKF, INA, FAG

[Killerbug]

Found a shop that sells miniature bearings from Germany and Japan like INA FAG, SKF, or Koyo, probably the best brands money
can buy.  

http://simplybearings.co.uk/shop/

or here

http://www.bearing-king.co.uk/

For tolerance infos like ISO or Jis you have to check out the tech's at the manufactures homepage. But even the cheapest SKF miniature bearings are ISO P5(ABEC 5)

http://www.skf.com/portal/skf/home/products?lang=en&maincatalogue=1&newlink=1_1_8

But top quality is actually cheap if you know what to look for, an P5 SKF 3x10x4 Open Stainless steel bearing costs only 5.8 $

http://simplybearings.co.uk/shop/p55001/W6232Z+Stainless+Metal+Shielded+Deep+Groove+Ball+Bearing+3x10x4mm/product_info.html

[Killerbug]

Smoothdrag still have the best prices on standard size SS reel bearings, but simply bearings has many different non standard ones used in handles etc.

[Killerbug]

Here a funny movie about bearings, enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6svVy1lYOA

[hafnor]

WOW! nice reading and Video. Thank you very much. I still can not understand how they fit the balls into the bearing...?

[paal]

Thor, that puzzled me for quite a while too Untill I realized that they bunch up all the balls on one side of the outer race. Then there's plenty of space at the "opposite" side of the outer race to place the inner race. With the inner race in place, the balls are evenly spaced around the bearing, and the cage is put in place, preventing the balls to bunch up again. Now, everything is interlocking.

[hafnor]

WOW! haha, that makes sense, but logic can be hard to figure out! Thank you Pål

[Nessie Hunter]

Great video find..   

Thanks, very interesting....   

[Killerbug]

I have got tremendous feedback on the quality bearings from a lot of you, thanks!.  It seems as the interests for branded bearings are on the rise, especially in Europe.

I got a message the other day from a member, telling me that the British company Smbbearings, sells Japanese EZO Stainless at only 3£ for an average miniature bearing. I have placed my first order, and will give you some feed back on the products when they arrive.

http://www.smbbearings.com/Framesets/Miniature_Metric_Frame.htm

[Bryan Young]

Wow Morten, thanks for the resources all in one place.  You sure know how to roll.

[alantani]

morten, it's nice having you on board!

[Killerbug]

Her some information on the steel used by EZO

KS440/ACD34/X65Cr13 grade stainless steel with a lower carbon content is used by EZO Japan and has greater corrosion resistance, greater load capacity (approx 10 percent less than chrome steel) and superior low noise qualities to the standard AISI440C grade.
The corrosion resistance of stainless steel can be increased by passivation (see section below). 400 grade stainless steel will also withstand higher temperatures than chrome steel, coping with up to 250C constant and up to 300C intermittent with reduced load capacity. Above 300C, bearing life can be considerably shortened.

Read more: http://www.smbbearings.com/SMBtechdata1.htm#ixzz1giXpGxS1

[mojocvh]

From the [long] distant past I seem to remember something about the surprise they got in the North Sea oil industry when they discovered that not all [and in fact only a couple of grades of stainless steel] were in fact long term salt water proof, the others just corroded at a slower rate than steel....

[Mel B]

came up with this while researching about EZO bearings. find it interesting especially the thrust bearings, maybe ???just maybe ???we can substitute these ones for the lever drags, tight lines.

Roller bearings;

http://catalog.astbearings.com/db/service?domain=ast&command=browse&category=ball_bearings

Thrust bearings;

http://www.astbearings.com/catalog.html?category=double_row_ang_cont_bearing

[Killerbug]

From the [long] distant past I seem to remember something about the surprise they got in the North Sea oil industry when they discovered that not all [and in fact only a couple of grades of stainless steel] were in fact long term salt water proof, the others just corroded at a slower rate than steel....

Hi, thats in fact the case with stainless steel. No steel is 100% corrosion free.

[cloudman]

We are able to get the EZO bearings here in Hong Kong at $1.2/ bearing, this is used in Penn 6500SS spinning reels
If you want some sent send me details of bearing size and numbers needed and I will get you a wot and cost of shipping
Kim