What are the advantages / disadvantages of a ceramic bearing.

Example - http://www.vxb.com/page/bearings/PRO...arings/Kit7183

Do they run faster without overheating or run cooler? Lubricant
requirements less critical? Longer life?

Are they more prone to damage when shocked by vibrations or trauma from
impact, etc?

Did a quick Google search and turned up some info, but would love some "in
the field" information if available.

Regards,
Joe Agro, Jr.
(800) 871-5022
01.908.542.0244
Automatic / Pneumatic Drills: http://www.AutoDrill.com
Multiple Spindle Drills: http://www.Multi-Drill.com

V8013-R

Joe AutoDrill wrote:
What are the advantages / disadvantages of a ceramic bearing.

Example - http://www.vxb.com/page/bearings/PRO...arings/Kit7183

Do they run faster without overheating or run cooler? Lubricant
requirements less critical? Longer life?

Various motorsports use 'em in a variety of applications. The balls
have less mass and better dimensional stability, so they behave better
as speed and heat increase. They also have slightly lower MOI. We've
used them in wheel bearing, which yields slightly more 'wheel'
horsepower (less driveline loss) Other people use them in crank and
counterbalancer applications etc.


Are they more prone to damage when shocked by vibrations or trauma from
impact, etc?

Yes! :-) But not so bad that they require a lot of extra care, just
some sensible precautions.


Did a quick Google search and turned up some info, but would love some "in
the field" information if available.


Hope this helped.

Pete


--
Pete Snell
Department of Physics
Royal Military College

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Imagination is more important than knowledge.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

"Joe AutoDrill" wrote in message
news:HN9Pi.9168$C2.7251@trnddc02...
What are the advantages / disadvantages of a ceramic bearing.

snip

They are impervious to an EMP!

On Wed, 10 Oct 2007 19:32:55 GMT, Joe AutoDrill wrote:

What are the advantages / disadvantages of a ceramic bearing.

Example - http://www.vxb.com/page/bearings/PRO...arings/Kit7183

Do they run faster without overheating or run cooler? Lubricant
requirements less critical? Longer life?

Are they more prone to damage when shocked by vibrations or trauma from
impact, etc?

Did a quick Google search and turned up some info, but would love some "in
the field" information if available.


If you are selling them to cyclists you can charge a LOT more money based
on the hype of drag reduction - which is true, but so tiny it is not worth
bothering about.

"Joe AutoDrill" wrote in message
news:HN9Pi.9168$C2.7251@trnddc02...
What are the advantages / disadvantages of a ceramic bearing.

Example -
http://www.vxb.com/page/bearings/PRO...arings/Kit7183

Do they run faster without overheating or run cooler? Lubricant
requirements less critical? Longer life?

Their main use has been in high-speed bearings, where the balls' lower
density (lighter weight) allows much higher rpms without overload from
centrifugal force.

When one of my former clients (Roku-Roku) moved up from 20,000 rpm spindles
to 30,000 rpm spindles, they needed hybrid ceramic bearings to handle the
speed.


Are they more prone to damage when shocked by vibrations or trauma from
impact, etc?

'Don't know.


Did a quick Google search and turned up some info, but would love some "in
the field" information if available.

Roku-Roku had specific data on life of steel bearings, hybrid ceramics
(ceramic balls, steel races) and pure ceramics, but I don't think they made
it public. You only need the pure ceramics when you were working at the
hairy edge. They cost the most. Fischer uses them, or they did, in their
high-end, high-speed spindles.

You'll find them used on very high speed spindles from several parts of the
world. The Germans like them a lot.

--
Ed Huntress

On Wed, 10 Oct 2007 19:32:55 +0000, Joe AutoDrill wrote:

What are the advantages / disadvantages of a ceramic bearing.

Example - http://www.vxb.com/page/bearings/PRO...arings/Kit7183

Do they run faster without overheating or run cooler? Lubricant
requirements less critical? Longer life?

Are they more prone to damage when shocked by vibrations or trauma from
impact, etc?

Did a quick Google search and turned up some info, but would love some "in
the field" information if available.

All the preceding, plus they're insulating, which is handy in some
electromechanical applications.

--
Tim Wescott
Control systems and communications consulting
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Need to learn how to apply control theory in your embedded system?
"Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" by Tim Wescott
Elsevier/Newnes, http://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html

On Wed, 10 Oct 2007 20:10:16 -0500, Tim Wescott
wrote:

On Wed, 10 Oct 2007 19:32:55 +0000, Joe AutoDrill wrote:

What are the advantages / disadvantages of a ceramic bearing.

Example - http://www.vxb.com/page/bearings/PRO...arings/Kit7183

Do they run faster without overheating or run cooler? Lubricant
requirements less critical? Longer life?

Are they more prone to damage when shocked by vibrations or trauma from
impact, etc?

Did a quick Google search and turned up some info, but would love some "in
the field" information if available.

All the preceding, plus they're insulating, which is handy in some
electromechanical applications.

Or bad in some applications, you may need some type of brush setup to
ground the rotating part or some serious static charge can build up.

Thank You,
Randy

Remove 333 from email address to reply.

According to Randy :
On Wed, 10 Oct 2007 20:10:16 -0500, Tim Wescott
wrote:

[ ... ]

All the preceding, plus they're insulating, which is handy in some
electromechanical applications.

Or bad in some applications, you may need some type of brush setup to
ground the rotating part or some serious static charge can build up.

Nice if you are using a lathe to rotate a workpiece while it is
being arc/tig/mig welded, however. You'll need to make some way to get
the power to the spindle, but you won't be burning up your bearings.

Enjoy,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

Joe AutoDrill wrote:

What are the advantages / disadvantages of a ceramic bearing.

For your boring heads? Fuggedit. Too expensive, you don't have the rpm. You
should lubricate your steel BBs with oil before switching to ceramics.


Nick
--
The lowcost-DRO:
http://www.yadro.de

What are the advantages / disadvantages of a ceramic bearing.

For your boring heads? Fuggedit. Too expensive, you don't have the rpm.
You
should lubricate your steel BBs with oil before switching to ceramics.

We've got a few folks wanting to run heads above our 4-4500 RPM self imposed
limits... Mostly on CNC. Thus the question. I figured that if the
ceramics can run at a higher RPM rate with my same or similar synth. grease,
might be an option.

We had one guy want to tap a pipe fitting in the top of the head and vent
holes in the bottom to pump coolant through... Didn't think that was such a
bad idea IF the collant was oil... But he wanted to use water based stuff.


The housing we manufacture is made in two levels and "clam shell" assembled
and has only the very basic of seals on the shafts themselves to keep grease
in and dirt and chips out so filling them with oil doesn't work for the most
part unless it is pumped in... Or so goes my thinking.

Bottom line - better bearings might give me a few more RPM I figured
although we've NEVER had an over RPM issue that I'm aware of so maybe our
numbers are artificially low for "free insurance" as I call it.

Most heads og on drill press machines where you can't even get 4000+ RPM.

Regards,
Joe Agro, Jr.
(800) 871-5022
01.908.542.0244
Automatic / Pneumatic Drills: http://www.AutoDrill.com
Multiple Spindle Drills: http://www.Multi-Drill.com

V8013-R

Joe AutoDrill wrote:

We've got a few folks wanting to run heads above our 4-4500 RPM self
imposed limits... Â*

That depends on the diameter. :-)


The housing we manufacture is made in two levels and "clam shell"
assembled and has only the very basic of seals ...

I remember that, so my note about the oil.


Bottom line - better bearings might give me a few more RPM I figured
although we've NEVER had an over RPM issue that I'm aware of so maybe our
numbers are artificially low for "free insurance" as I call it.

When you install precision spindle bearings, rpm get higher (along with the
price). But still, the first thing to do *would* be oil mist. I doubt that
ceramic bearings will like a slap of grease. :-)

Also, the rpm given are for a certain load. You can do some math with
reduced live, increased rpm, reduced load, better cooling, etc. Try to get
a book from a good bearing manufacturer (SKF, FAG, Timken, ...) and have a
look at their dimensioning section. I bet you can save a lot of money. And
spend an afternoon with the slide rule ...

And stay away from Chinese bearings!


Nick
--
The lowcost-DRO:
http://www.yadro.de

looking at that picture i cant imagine how those things are made.
since most ceramics shrink greatly when fired...

"erik litchy" wrote in message
erio.net...
looking at that picture i cant imagine how those things are made.
since most ceramics shrink greatly when fired...

Most bearings of all types are made pretty much the same way: in a mill that
rolls them around in abrasive in a series of circular patterns. I wrote an
article about it once, if I can find the sucker.

--
Ed Huntress