# Replacing ball bearings on the spindle with taper roller bearings without oil seals



## TQA222 (Dec 27, 2018)

I have just watched two videos where ball races with integral seals on the spindle were replaced with taper roller bearings which did not have seals.

There did seem to be plastic plates in front of the bearings, are they sufficient to protect the bearings.


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## whitmore (Dec 27, 2018)

[QUOTE="TQA222, post: 633166, member: 52434"...ball races with integral seals on the spindle were replaced with taper roller bearings which did not have seals.

There did seem to be plastic plates in front of the bearings, are they sufficient to protect the bearings.[/QUOTE]

On a lathe, such shields would protect from swarf, but allow flood coolant to enter.   On a grinder, probably shields would
be inadequate (whether plastic or metal).    Lots of traditional lathes  have simple shields at the bearings, which are usually
behind a chuck or faceplate.  It is expected that lubricant in the bearing will leak out in those cases, and need replenishing.


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## benmychree (Dec 28, 2018)

Typically, machine tools do not use sealed bearings, but rather they use what are called "clearance closures". In most any machine tool, chips or abrasive particles are present, which eat up seals all to quickly, hence the use of clearance closures or laberinth type barriers to keep abrasive or chips out of bearings.  These are designed to exclude "crud" and retain lubricants for the most part.


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