- Joined
- May 14, 2015
- Messages
- 179
Okay, so I'm scoping out bargain-basement spindle bearings for my CNC project, and I'm trying to get spec data for the various options out there. Is it just me, or is the bearing industry super coy about who/what/where is actually making the products? As best I can tell, almost every maker uses a cryptic three-letter-acronym, and is owned by either SKF, Barden, or Timken (or the Chinese government), with two competing naming systems for the same 'standard' bearing products covering all of these. I think they were all independent concerns at one time, but conglomerated during the Rust Belt decline decades ago, which makes it rather complicated to figure out exactly what spec applies to which bearing when looking at new-old-stock options. It just seems strange & confusing to keep all these storied old industry brand names around, making the same standardized components, with the same part numbers, all owned by the same board of directors.
At the ABEC7/P4 precision level, should all the various options out there have essentially the same specs (load/speed) regardless of who is making them? That is to say, could I use a modern SKF spec sheet to look up data for an old 7200-series or 6200-series Fafnir or NTN bearing, and be reasonably sure of the numbers I see?
TCB
At the ABEC7/P4 precision level, should all the various options out there have essentially the same specs (load/speed) regardless of who is making them? That is to say, could I use a modern SKF spec sheet to look up data for an old 7200-series or 6200-series Fafnir or NTN bearing, and be reasonably sure of the numbers I see?
TCB