Advice please: cheapo source for light machine skate bearings?

why not free then - just go to any real mechanic and ask for old rear wheel bearings -- ones that are not suitable any more for a car will usually be fine for your application - otherwise, buy new wheel bearings - try 65 chevy truck rear if you need somewhere to start

Dont wheel bearings need tapered spindles? They are after all, roller bearings and as such are used for thrust loading, rather than side loading...er..well..you know what I mean

Gunner

"Deep in her heart, every moslem woman yearns to show us her t*ts" John Griffin

No, they are tapered roller bearings, but they mount on straight spindles. Replacement bearings for trailer axles are another real cheap source brand new and a little smaller. I think a 1" bore is the norm on some of them.

Pete C.

jmcman wrote in article ... Howdy all of you wise & frugal master scroungers & fabricator types. I'd like to gob together 4 _cheap_ 4" x 12" x 3/8" low-profile skates for occasional use around the garage-just heavy enough for my sb13; does anyone have a good _cheap-as-possible_ source for (maybe 16 to 32 $depending) roughly 2+" od, ½ to ¾ ID bearings? (not too fussy on exact size long as pairs match) I'm in long beach, ca. any fairly local surplus places? also, what's the cheapest I could expect to find em? Seems to me anyodd gyppo chiwaneez type should be fine unless sealed are close in price. Thanks a . . well, about a ton . . groan Best John

A little while back, I ran across two-packs of inline skate wheels - completed with bearings - for a dollar per package at my local dollar store.

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"*" wrote: A little while back, I ran across two-packs of inline skate wheels - completed with bearings - for a dollar per package at my local dollar store. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ That's what I was thinking. I find used in-line skate shoes with wheels very often at flea markets and thrift stores, etc. Woodturners use them to build steady rests. They would be excellent for building the dollies you want

I wouldn't think those plastic wheels would hold up to the weight of a big lathe.

some REAR wheel bearings are tapered roller, or even oval roller (or whatever you call them), but I'm pretty sure the truck I recommended uses sealed ball bearings - most vehicles from about 1932 through 1969 or so used ball bearings in the rear. Inner bearings are almost always ball on those cars as well. As are front bearings up through the early 50s.

thanks for your suggestions guys, please keep thinking & sugesting though. cause it looks like i'll have to keep searchin . . and hope to run into a deal on chineez factory seconds er sumptin cheap-cheap.

any rear wheel bearings i've changed out have all had a seperate race that they run in, along with a huge axal ID; used, they're usually toast; had to cut the races out with a dremel as i remember--besides at prolly $20 a whack new, X the 16 plus bearings i'll need, those'd be way outa range. roller blade bearings were one of my first thoughts; the plastic/rubber seems a deal killer though. trailer bearings, along with having huge spindal ID, would prolly be two piece for thrust load too.

conveyer or garrage door rollers were my next thought, but only rated for a couple hunert lbs with tin skin; i'm fraid they'd be a trifle light, not take any shock load and puke if cocked, or jammed against swarf boogers.

Bob Hill on epay, usually has multi packs listed cheapish, but i haven't seen any bigger'n 1 5/8" OD or so. Any further idears'd sure be welcome. i grew up crawlin round junkyards, (lower peninsula, lowper?) knawin on machine & car parts but i'm stumped, i'm sure there _must_ be a cheaper, more talented scrounger than me out there someplace! thanks again --john long beach CA

An ebay search for: 6304 bearings turns up plenty of choices. I think that's going to be the most economical bearing given your OD preference. You can save quite a bit by going to a smaller OD, in which case I'd be looking at 6204 (47mm) or 6203 (40mm).

Ned Simmons

Take a look at my website for machinery skates. I think the $200.00/ three looks pretty good at the prices you folks are paying for bearings. Three skates take 24 bearings if you dual them as you should.

Leigh at MarMachine

let's try this again - the cars I mentioned have bearings that are sealed, are one piece, not separate races and balls - and are common. have you actually TRIED going to a mechanic and asking if he has any dead bearings that might be suitable? Maybe if you tried you would find what you seek, rather than complaining about the price of new bearings. Maybe if you don't feel like talking to a mechanic and following this advise, you should look up "cam follower" and see if those meet your needs.

snip

thanks for your suggestions guys, please keep thinking & sugesting though. cause it looks like i'll have to keep searchin . . and hope to run into a deal on chineez factory seconds er sumptin cheap-cheap.

any rear wheel bearings i've changed out have all had a seperate race that they run in, along with a huge axal ID; used, they're usually toast; had to cut the races out with a dremel as i remember--besides at prolly $20 a whack new, X the 16 plus bearings i'll need, those'd be way outa range. roller blade bearings were one of my first thoughts; the plastic/rubber seems a deal killer though. trailer bearings, along with having huge spindal ID, would prolly be two piece for thrust load too.

conveyer or garrage door rollers were my next thought, but only rated for a couple hunert lbs with tin skin; i'm fraid they'd be a trifle light, not take any shock load and puke if cocked, or jammed against swarf boogers.

Bob Hill on epay, usually has multi packs listed cheapish, but i haven't seen any bigger'n 1 5/8" OD or so. Any further idears'd sure be welcome. i grew up crawlin round junkyards, (lower peninsula, lowper?) knawin on machine & car parts but i'm stumped, i'm sure there _must_ be a cheaper, more talented scrounger than me out there someplace! thanks again --john long beach CA

thanks Leigh, those are very nice--almost exactly what i'm planning to gob together--and ideed a very fair price for prefabs; i'll bet someone here'll snag right em up, but i think i kin srounge some bearings a bit cheaper though. i'm gonna check around a bit first. iirc you're close by, in oc; i've heard you're a very square trader; i may soon be forced to sell a garrage full of stuff; if that comes about i'll give ye a shout, eh. cheers! --john long beach ca

you need to scrounge bearings, find steel pieces, cut everything, weld everything, etc etc. that's a lot of hassle.

i

thank you for the suggestions William; i didn't mean to seem just dismiss them off-hand; i do appreciate your knowlege and that's what i was asking for, thank you; i will check out cam followers too, that sounds like maybe a keeper; now that the holidays are over i'll visit a few local mechniks; the junkyards wouldn't take too kindly to me rippin up saleable rearends for just the bearings; it'll take either 16 or 32 bearings, that be a bunch, depending upon width, for four skates . . plus i think a large (semi?) outer thrust bearing glued to the top plate of one or two skates for a swivel would be sexy too, eh. i'll post back on my findings. cheers! --john lb ca

thanks Ned; the size codes made the search easy and were spot-on for what i have pictured; looks like if i can't find used, i'll be able to buy new for about a buck a bearing. the skates i wanna build are much like the nice ones Leigh posted, except if possible i want to glue a swivel top-plate on two of em; maybe use large (used) outer front wheel bearings like from a semi . . it may take a month or so ta stack my dimes, but i'll try to post back with some (close-up) pics so yall can feel way better bout your own welding skills. yous guys are da best! gracias --john lb ca

On Thu, 04 Jan 2007 01:46:44 -0600, with neither quill nor qualm, Ignoramus9260 quickly quoth:

Isn't that what HSM is all about, Ig? We have more time, brains, and brawn than bucks, and it's more fun to build than to buy. I thought you of all people would grok that.

I think your challenge will be to find 12 or more of the same kind in anyone's junk box. The most common sealed ball bearing is the 203FF as used on front of alternators. Those can be had new wholesale for pennies, but might be too small (about 1.5" OD IIRC)for your purposes. Some alternators use bigger ones. Might be worthwhile to stop at an alternator rebuild shop. If the shop specializes in HD stuff, they could well have a bucket of castoffs of the same basic bearing.

Front bearings in GM compressors are about the size you want, and there are plenty of junk compressors all over your junkyard. Those bearings are a bit tough to pull. Takes a snapring pliers and maybe a custom puller. You might spend all day gather 16 compressors and pulling the bearings. It's a good double-row bearing though. the old long A6 version would be your best bet IMO.

Also, there used to be A/C compressor remanufacturers that would rebuild the front bearings from cores. If there are any of those guys left in your neighborhood, I'd pay them a visit.

Next up would be rear wheel bearings from solid rear axle RWD cars and

1/2 ton trucks, and not all of those would work. Another possibility is the hub bearings from FWD stub axles - but many of them are integral with the hub.

If the machine(s) have a wide area of flat metal on the bottom (the pedestal of a Bridgeport, for instance) then you can't do better than 1/2" black iron pipe. I've used that on my Bridgeport, and my 3500-Lb Sheldon lathe with good results. You want as small a pipe diameter as possible, so that if you accidently run off the pipe, the machine doesn't fall over. Obviously, you need a thick wall so it doesn't crush. This might not roll quite as well as ball-bearing casters, but it actually moves pretty well on a bare concrete floor. I can easily start and stop the Bridgeport all by myself. The Sheldon I did part of the traverse with a comealong, and part by hand, but I had to really lean on it to get it rolling. Well, it weighs as much as a sedan!

Jon

No , US pickups used rollers directly on the axle , for a long time , Maybe they fixed it , but 70's , 80's had rollers .

But Japs used a clever Tapered roller on 79 ? Datsun . It could haul twice the load a 1/2T Chevy could . The bearing pushed the axles into each other .

Americans weren't smart enuf to copy it ....

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I just paid a penalty of $120 for doin business with

VXB bearing ...

The cage was grinding in all the 6002's JUNK ---------------------------------------------------- Fastenal has been a good , low cost source of low cost metric bearings . Lower cost than ENCO ...

I just got 200 6204-2RS for about $3 each .

Now to make some wheels .. But everything i do is unorthodox , so ill make wheels/rims with stubs that carry the bearing , then to mount them to a frame , i'll jjust strap around the bearing and bolt that to the frame .

The other way is to push bearing into a housing in the wheel , make a accurate axle ..... Yuk ! too much work.

Make a bigger valve stem ,,,,say about 3/8" steel tube , and push styro-foam into the tire . Just like styr-foam beads , it will not punture and it will support heavy stuff , cause you pack the pieces of foam down the stem hole , under pressure .

Back to work on computers ...... Big breakthru coming ,

you will stop hearing complaints about software in the future cause there wont be any ! Chuck Moore invented Forth , and we got low cost , improved hardware , now we got the best h/w and its easy to program , so programming will be a Maytag repairmans thing .....

The new software will have no English Text anywhere . Any one can operate it , no QWERTY keyboard .... Sections of the LCD , close to the keys will show icons and images and traffic signs and faces of ppl and ....

You just hit the key , and image on LCD changes to let ya know , if ya hit key again , ya get different .... No more source code , it will be copied onto SD cards and simply plugged into SD card slot . No loading , no flashing , no files , no folders , no copyright , SRAM will be used to Hybernate all PDAs so "boot" Op Sys is 0.2 seconds !! Bye Bye Microsoft ....

The Asians are sneaking the hardware in as game-boxes like GP2X .. 24bit color 1024 by 768 LCD capable , HDD / DVD burner capable USB Keyboard , mouse ....

Or ..hackers can get $200 evaluation board that hooks HDD and USB KB and ethernet and RS232 and SD and CF and MMC and The 44 pin HDD connector is on the board ! Just plug it in . What would be nice is 4MB SRAM , so OpSys could be held in memory by batteries , no need to boot it .. Shut down in 0.1 sec and reboot in 0.3 sec ! I'll try these and hook a BG Micro bw LCD dot matrix ....