DIYbanter - View Single Post - Clausing spindle bearings-help!

In article ,
says...

From collapsing cast iron shell bearings (on the cataract lathes)
to three bearing setup (starting with the BB headstocks) and then
at some time to two bearing setups after the 40s.

It would be interesting to talk to the engineers who decided how
and when to make those changes.

The change from 3 bearings to two seems consistent with
Hardinge KISS philosophy. By removing redundant constraints
the 2 bearing design makes it easier to build a very true
spindle at the expense of a bit of stiffness.

Ned Simmons