Jan
6
2012
Ball bearings: brief introduction
Author: adminMaking metal ball bearings is a high-precision process involving several stages. The ball bearings must be perfectly round and smooth or they won’t work properly. The use of rolling ball bearings goes back to ancient Egypt, but it wasn’t until 1883 that Friedrich Fischer devised the first commercial ball grinder. The technology was refined over the years, so that today we have ball bearings that are smooth and spherical down to the tiniest fraction of an inch.
Method
The manufacturing process of ball bearings starts with metal wires that are cut into sections in a machine. The short lengths of wire are then pressed in another machine that forces them into a spherical shape. The ball bearings have a ring of flattened metal called “flash” around them, resembling Saturn’s rings. This is removed using two rill plates, which are round with a number of grooves in them. One plate stays still while the other one spins. The spheres of metal are then ground and polished. As well as the well-known steel ball bearing, you also can find ball bearings made from such materials as ceramics and carbon. These are used for applications where steel has the wrong characteristics, Thus there are more than one variety of ball bearings.
