"whit3rd" wrote in message
...
On Monday, December 12, 2016 at 4:36:53 AM UTC-8, Jim Wilkins wrote:

I've been manufacturing a bearing myself, an all-stainless ball
thrust
bearing to support one of my solar panel arrays.

Good luck with that; if all else fails, though, recall that bicycles
with common ball
bearings and waterproof grease last a long time, even here in rainy
Seattle.
I made an SS cone to rebuild one, and did not like the results. I
was young
and ignorant enough to just use a scrap of some anonymous SS, but
the failure was memorable: it didn't gall, it shredded.

The existing bearing an upside-down 1" galvy floor flange resting on
1-1/4" grey plastic electrical conduit, which was only lightly
scratched by the as-received finish of the floor flange.

I really just want to see if I can make one. My stainless needle
bearings in outdoor caster wheels have held up well.

--jsw