# Biggest-Ass Bearing?



## graham-xrf (Aug 15, 2022)

Well - it might not be. There are some pretty huge bearings in rail tunnel excavators, but it might be one of the biggest full precision bearings ever made. It is one of a set of 4 used in the gimbal mounted in the middle of the "mining exploration" ship used to recover the Soviet submarine K-129, around 1974.


----------



## FOMOGO (Aug 15, 2022)

Those would be just right for my new bench grinder build. Mike


----------



## rabler (Aug 15, 2022)

I look at that and get lost in wondering how much force it is meant to withstand, what RPMs, how many HP are lost in spinning it unloaded, how much it weighs, etc.


----------



## Ulma Doctor (Aug 15, 2022)

Ver cool!!!
I watched a YouTube video on large tapered roller bearings about a year ago.
The bearing was approximately 10 to 12 feet in diameter. They had a shipping cradle that tipped the bearing 45* for transport on a trailer. 
I’ll see if I can find a link when I get home.


----------



## mattthemuppet2 (Aug 15, 2022)

that'd be great for tramming your mill with


----------



## graham-xrf (Aug 15, 2022)

rabler said:


> I look at that and get lost in wondering how much force it is meant to withstand, what RPMs, how many HP are lost in spinning it unloaded, how much it weighs, etc.


*The design forces*
Radial Load 4500 Tons
Axial Load   1000 Tons
Bearing Weight 15.5 Tons
Size approximately 2m high
Supplied by FAG Bearing USA


----------



## Doug Gray (Aug 15, 2022)

Plus 600 pounds of grease.


----------



## graham-xrf (Aug 15, 2022)

Ulma Doctor said:


> Ver cool!!!
> I watched a YouTube video on large tapered roller bearings about a year ago.
> The bearing was approximately 10 to 12 feet in diameter. They had a shipping cradle that tipped the bearing 45* for transport on a trailer.
> I’ll see if I can find a link when I get home.


The gimball was to allow the ship to rock about while attached to the lifting gear going down 15,000ft. The original documentary explaining how that gimbal worked in the middle of the ship is --> here _*LINK*_


----------



## Cadillac (Aug 15, 2022)

Something like that I’d imagine it’s for water turbines for a dam or so.  It looks like theirs two layers of rollers.


Doug Gray said:


> Plus 600 pounds of grease.


Right


----------



## graham-xrf (Aug 15, 2022)

Cadillac said:


> Something like that I’d imagine it’s for water turbines for a dam or so.  It looks like theirs two layers of rollers.
> 
> Right


Yes - look through the middle of the bearing, and you can see the inner race in the background.
Or - this is it!
[EDIT: Is that while being ground? There is coolant being sprayed. ]


----------



## Doug Gray (Aug 15, 2022)

I got it boss!


----------



## Ischgl99 (Aug 15, 2022)

That’s not even close to being the largest precision bearing.  The largest ones are made in sections that bolt together so they can be transported.  Rothe Erde makes the slewing ring bearings used in things like draglines, I believe they make up to 5 meter OD, but that could be larger now.  FAG had a capacity up to I think 3 meters when I worked for them, but I saw a story about a bearing for a wind turbine that was larger then that, so they may have larger equipment now.









						rothe erde® slewing bearings
					

As a renowned slewing bearing manufacturer, thyssenkrupp rothe erde offers customized unique industry solutions ✓. Learn more now.



					www.thyssenkrupp-rotheerde.com
				




Edit: I didn’t read to the end of the link, they make up to 9.6 meter diameter.


----------



## pontiac428 (Aug 15, 2022)

I bet packing that bearing makes you feel like a large animal veterinarian...

They mothballed the Glomar Explorer in the Carquinez Straits when I was a kid, so I spent plenty of time pondering the mysteries of that ship and it's mission.  Freaking amazing undertaking.


----------



## Ischgl99 (Aug 15, 2022)

A little more info, the bearing in the OP is a triple ring bearing.  Smaller versions are used in paper making machines.  This link shows what these bearings look like https://www.schaeffler.com/remoteme...chaeffler_2/tpi/downloads_8/tpi_169_de_en.pdf

I've never seen a triple ring bearing that large, I was curious what kind of equipment uses them since I have only seen them in paper machines, and came across a link for the ship that was used in the recovery operation of the submarine.  The bearing arrangement starts at image 2-18 of the document in the following link.  It looks like they used this bearing so you had the deflection tolerance of a spherical roller bearings and axial displacement ability of a cylindrical roller bearing.  Very cool application!



			The Glomar Explorer


----------



## Jake M (Aug 15, 2022)

graham-xrf said:


> Well - it might not be. There are some pretty huge bearings in rail tunnel excavators, but it might be one of the biggest full precision bearings ever made. It is one of a set of 4 used in the gimbal mounted in the middle of the "mining exploration" ship used to recover the Soviet submarine K-129, around 1974.
> 
> View attachment 417301



Howard Hughes built that boat with a couple of 608's.  This is what happens when the government gets involved.



OK, maybe that wasn't _quite_ how it went, but I like it.


----------



## Winegrower (Aug 15, 2022)

How about the spindle bearings on the lathes used for these things?  

And the size of the chuck keys!


----------



## 7milesup (Aug 15, 2022)

I would recommend *this book, Blind Man's Bluff by Sherry Sontag*. It is a great story about Cold War espionage utilizing submarines and the cat-and-mouse "games" the U.S. and Russia engaged in.


----------



## Braeden P (Aug 15, 2022)

It sad to hear that the “mining operation” did go to plan.


----------



## great white (Aug 15, 2022)

What’s an @ss bearing?


----------



## Ulma Doctor (Aug 15, 2022)




----------



## 7milesup (Aug 15, 2022)

Ulma Doctor said:


>


It is impressive, but it looks like a ring gear to me.


----------



## markba633csi (Aug 15, 2022)

If the guy sneezed a big lugey on to the bearing would they have to take it all apart or could they just do a spot cleaning?
Inquiring minds want to know


----------



## graham-xrf (Aug 16, 2022)

I was intrigued by the quench. That much heat, in a thing that big, would cook up even quite a big volume. Maybe they have a circulation pump to move the heat out to a radiator. As the bearing is lifted out, there is steam to be seen rising off, implying water. But I guess it can't be. I would have expected some furious boiling, but that did not seem to happen.

Easy to tell that I don't have much experience of quenching hot stuff - not more than one appreciates from occasionally seeing an episode of "_Forged in Fire_". This is something I hope to change in the future, although it likely won't involve swords nor knife blades.


----------



## mmcmdl (Aug 16, 2022)

Gonna need a big arbor press for that bearing .


----------



## Ischgl99 (Aug 16, 2022)

7milesup said:


> It is impressive, but it looks like a ring gear to me.


It’s a slewing ring bearing.  They come in a variety of configurations,  mounting flanges, gear teeth cut into the inner or outer ring, through holes for mounting, all depends on how they will be used.  These are used a lot of applications, but construction and mining equipment are probably the biggest use cases.

The first few pages of this document show some of the catalog size configurations. https://www.schaeffler.com/remoteme...ler_2/catalogue_1/downloads_6/404_de_en_1.pdf


----------



## graham-xrf (Aug 16, 2022)

great white said:


> What’s an @ss bearing?


I claim the term is OK.
"Ass" was hyphenated with "Biggest", not with "Bearing"!


----------



## mattthemuppet2 (Aug 16, 2022)

Braeden P said:


> It sad to hear that the “mining operation” did go to plan.


I thought that they were able to recover a portion of the sub, but no more as it broke up as they were raising it from the sea bed. I vaguely recollect that they used flotation balloons alongside the hull.


----------



## great white (Aug 16, 2022)

mattthemuppet2 said:


> I thought that they were able to recover a portion of the sub, but no more as it broke up as they were raising it from the sea bed. I vaguely recollect that they used flotation balloons alongside the hull.


Yep, when they lifted K129, the glomar Explorer's lifting mechanism had a failure and they lost 2/3 rd's of the sub. They pretty much only got hte bow section, but even that was an intelligence goldmine, including two nuclear tipped torpedoes....


----------



## Manual Mac (Aug 16, 2022)

i Used to commute across the Benicia bridge in late 80s & early 90s & would see the Glomar Explorer moored all by itself in the Navy mothball fleet.
If you can find the documentary Project Azorian on the raising of the K-129, watch it, guaranteed to keep your interest.
The Big Ass bearings iis just the tip of the ice-berg in this amazingly true endeavor, & an incredible adventure story.


----------



## K30 (Sep 3, 2022)

Cadillac said:


> Something like that I’d imagine it’s for water turbines for a dam or so.  It looks like theirs two layers of rollers.
> 
> Right


Those have Kingsbury bearings generally. They last a lot longer in that sort of application.


----------



## mcostello (Sep 3, 2022)

TICK,TICK,TICK. Engineers and Accountants nightmare.


----------

