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If you’re going to buy bearings for your project, application, or business, it’s important to buy smart. Every bearing is not necessarily right for every situation. When you buy, bearing size is a consideration, as is bearing type and even the bearing materials and bearing quality. Here’s a brief buy bearing guide that can help you figure out what to think about when looking for the right bearing to buy.
Buy Bearing Information: Bearing Types
There are several different types of ball bearing. There is the radial ball bearing, which can be either deep groove or angular contact, and there is the thrust ball bearing. Which type of bearing you should buy depends on the kind of job you need the bearing to do. If you have only axial, or thrust, loads to handle, a thrust ball bearing is sufficient. If your application must handle radial or primarily radial but also axial loads, you will need to buy a radial ball bearing. Of course, it will rarely be sufficient to buy one bearing; you will generally need multiple bearings to complete your application.
Deep groove ball bearings are composed of an inner ring, an outer ring, balls to provide the friction resistance, and in some cases a cage to hold and separate the balls. An angular contact bearing creates a contact angle between the ball and the race (the component that the rolling element rides on) when the bearing is functioning.
What this means is when choosing which bearing to buy, bearing types should be considered as follows:
Primarily Radial Loads: Radial Ball Bearing, Deep Groove
Primarily Thrust (axial) Loads, Some Moderate Radial Loads: Radial Ball Bearing, Angular Contact
Exclusively Thrust (axial) Loads: Thrust Ball Bearing
Buy Bearing Information: Bearing Size
The other major consideration to look at during the buy bearing phase of your project is the size of your bearing. Clearly, the size of the bearing you buy will depend on your application. Bearing size is generally rated by bore (inside diameter), outside diameter, and width. You can search for a bearing by inches or metrically. When searching metrically, be aware that there is a standard measuring system when it comes to bearings. The guideline is that for a bearing with bore size of 4 or higher, you multiply by five for the bore size in millimeters, so that a 4 would mean a bore size of 20 millimeters. For a hex bore, this would be 20 millimeters across the flats, while with a tapered bore, the size is of the smaller diameter. When measuring the outside bearing diameter, remember to include the housing if there is one. However, if you are looking to buy a flanged bearing, remember that the flange is not included in the size.
Buy Bearing Information: Bearing Materials
There are distinct material and plating possibilities that you may wish to explore for your ball bearings, including plastic, stainless steel, ceramic hybrid, and ceramic races. Consider if any of these materials would be particularly appropriate for your specific applications. NMB bearings are all stainless steel bearings.
Buy Bearing Information: Quality
Naturally, every NMB bearing is of the highest quality. There is an organization that rates bearing tolerances known as the Annular Bearing Engineers’ Committee (ABEC). Higher numbers indicate tighter bearing tolerances.
Use the field on this page to locate the bearings you need. Simply input all or part of the identifying part number to locate the part you need and find out if it is in stock. If you’re trying to locate a bearing distributor, find the link at left for a list of NMB bearing distributors by location across the United States.