Premium Bearings?

[VicParticipant @vic]

I was looking at some bearings today and for any given size/type there can be dozens of options. What caught my eye though were the “Premium” brands. Which of these makes would you choose from the list?

FAG

Koyo

NSK

Nachi

SKF

 

[Harry WilkesParticipant @harrywilkes58467]

For me it would be SKF but to be fair I’m not conversant with the other makes

H

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

Their all good makes !Though I would go for FAG or SKF. Noel

[Neil LickfoldParticipant @neillickfold44316]

All those make a high spec bearing.

The best roundness bearing balls are ceramic grade3 balls.

Finally comes to price or availability.

FAG, NSK, Nachi, SKF, are all local for here in Hamilton.

Sometimes the only ones available are the cheapies , and have sometimes found them to be as good as the more name brand bearings. Where possible, I will go for one of the above 4 brands as my first choice.

I make up ceramic bearings for my model engines, and find that the FAG and SKF bearings have a very consistent outer race way diameter, as long as the bearings being used, come from the same plant. If they come from different plants, ie Japan for one batch and then Portugal, for another batch of the same brand, the outer race diameter can be as much as 30um different. The bearing will have the same clearance, but that does not help if you are trying to match an outer race with a shaft that already has the inner race groove ground in it.

 

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Any of those are going to be good. Nachi are a bit cheaper than SKF but are good. Koyo recently took over the section of Timken that makes Torrington needle rollers. They are good.

[Paul LousickParticipant @paullousick59116]

All of those brands are good but they all sell different grades of bearing.

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

The main thing is avoid the cheap no-name Chinese bearings for anything critical. Some are ok, some are not. But there is no way to tell which you have until it fails. Bearings are cheap, buy the good ones. The work involved in replacing them invariably outweighs the cost.

The main bearing in my 5-year-old Chinese-made washing machine is making horrible noises already and is not long for this world. I will be replacing it with an SKF.  My previous washing machine, same brand but made in Australia, lasted 10 years before the same thing happened and I foolishly bought a new machine thinking it would last the same. My mother’s washing machine lasted 20 or more. Sign of the times. Just when sustainability is becoming critical for survival.

[JAParticipant @ja]

Just a comment. In the UK when buying bearings from a bearing supplier, ask for a discount. You will usually get one. If you are buying quite a few you may get better than 50%. Like car tyres, bearings are generally emergency purchaces and in such cases the buyer can pay a lot of money.

JA

[mgnbukParticipant @mgnbuk]

I would not have a problem with any of the brands listed, though I usually specify SKF if I have a choice.

Many SKF bearings are available in their “Explorer” specification, which are supposedly lower friction & higher spec than their normal range.

Nigel B.

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

JA has a good point ! The list price is just a starting point, in most cases a hefty discount will be available – Just ask and yes 50% up is possible. Noel.

[VicParticipant @vic]

Some good info, glad I posted.

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, well in my old maintenance job, I’ve fitted hundreds of all of them except Nachi, but they all last about the same amount of time, however, frequency of use and the environment conditions they are used in, do make a difference. But the old company used SKF mostly, especially where they would have a hard life, but they also used a lot of Cooper bearings as well.

Regards Nick.

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

Good old Cooper bearings still going strong and in Noels neck of the woods!

[Paul LousickParticipant @paullousick59116]

I have a friend that used to work for SKF and I was amazed when he told me of the discounts that they give, depending on who you are. Their regular customers that buy big get big discounts, like 50% and Joe Blow that makes a small one-off purchase pays full price, 100%. Others get something in between.

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi Paul, the company I used to work for got big discounts on many things, from many firms, including bearing companies, but the way it worked was that they got annual rebates through using the same suppliers, but they did have one company they dealt with direct, that gave a bigger discount than the suppliers could get, but there was very many thousands of pounds changing hands in the course of a year.

Regards Nick.

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi Bernard, Cooper has been part of SKF for some time now.

Regards Nick.

[egaParticipant @ega]

This  is a timely topic for me as I am thinking of replacing the two spindle bearings in my Harrison Graduate wood lathe. I have seen an SKF replacement set at about £75 but have seen much cheaper ones.

I understand that the bearings are:

6010 deep groove 50x 80×16 and

6208 -do- 40x80x18

Do such bearings have shelf life eg because the grease ages? The Harrison is equipped with screw-down grease cups.

Any helpful comment would be appreciated.

[Nicholas Farr]

On Nicholas Farr Said:

Hi Paul, the company I used to work for got big discounts on many things, from many firms, including bearing companies, but the way it worked was that they got annual rebates through using the same suppliers, but they did have one company they dealt with direct, that gave a bigger discount than the suppliers could get, but there was very many thousands of pounds changing hands in the course of a year.

Regards Nick.

Probably over 20 years ago now, I called into my local bearing supplier for a couple of fairly common bearings.
The chap I normally dealt with was on his lunch, so I was quoted a price by someone else behind the counter, seemingly full retail, as I didn’t have a trade account with them.
I can’t remember the exact prices now, but it was well up to £40 per bearing + VAT.
Fortunately my normal contact appeared and I questioned the price, as I only wanted two, not a box of ten.
It turned out his colleague hadn’t applied my discount, which was clearly shown on the written receipt when I paid just under £4 each inc VAT
Discount -93% I couldn’t believe it at the time, though that figure has stuck in my mind, and no they weren’t clearance stock.
Bill

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

I would pay less attention to the manufacturer and more attention to the precision grade of the bearings on offer, at least for things like lathe/mill spindles or high speed bearings.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Yep as a simple example a bearing using just the numbers for my CNC would be £15 if I add the letters after the number you can add at least another 0 to the cost and that is after discount.

[HollowpointParticipant @hollowpoint]

BEWARE!

There are lots of fake bearings coming from China so buy from a reputable dealer. Well they aren’t “fake” but they are low quality bearings badged up as the top brands. SKF seems to be the most commonly faked.

My preference:

1. Genuine SKF

2. FAG / Koyo / Timken

[Wink HackmanParticipant @winkhackman25989]

You might also try smbbearings.com – they do EZO Japanese brand which I’ve found good, and they’re helpful over the phone.

[Author]

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