American or Chinese made bearings for my jointer?

[scott vroom]

I purchased a Byrd Shelix cutterhead for my Griz G0490 8" jointer and want to put new bearings in when I install the newcutter head. Griz quoted me $ about $3.00 each for the 2 bearings.....sounds too good to be true. I called a local King Bearing retailer and was quoted $26 each for top quality American made bearings (National Bearing, I believe), and they also had a $14 bearing from General Bearing, which I believe is making bearings in China now. I'm inclined to spend the extra money to get the better bearing. I don't want to go cheap on a bearing that might get sloppy when I'm trying to shave 64th of an inch off the edge of a board.

Any thoughts on this?

[Josh Rudolph]

Scott,

I just installed a 20" shelix head in my planer from Grizzly. I installed the bearings that they offer. By doing the job myself, like you will be doing, I know exactly what it takes to get to the bearings and install new ones. So with that, I would give the Grizzly bearings a shot...if they don't work out, your out $6 and an hour or two to replace them. You would then have to make the investment for the other bearings. If they do work out, you saved yourself $24 - $46.

Josh

[scott vroom]

Josh, you make a good point. I opted for Chinese bearings, but not the ones Griz sells. I need the bearings by Thurs morning so I picked up a set of General Bearings locally for $14 each. They're made at General's Chinas plant; it was still cheaper that Griz + 2 day am delivery.

Somewhere there is an American bearing factory worker cringing.....

[Matt Kestenbaum]

I'll skip the crazy story about why my G0490 needs new bearings...but when I checked prices at McMaster Carr they were closer to $50 for one side of the cutter head and $25 for the other side! If I take the machine apart (knives out!) and remove the pillow blocks, etc. I plan to use the very best bearings I can get my hands on...this machine has taught me well the fools folly of trying to save pennies in the short run.

[Bill Bukovec]

Buy the best, you only cry once.

Bill

[scott vroom]

Matt, time will tell whether I must learn the same lesson

[Chip Lindley]

A pair of $3 bearings on a $300+ Shelix cutterhead seems a bit ludicrous to me! All bearings start out smooth when new. But the better materials and tolerances of a higher grade bearing shows up--later! Cheap bearings wear faster under hard conditions. IF a hobbiest uses his jointer for only an hour or two every month, that's what cost-conscious import-sellers hope for. If used under more demanding shop conditions...go figure! Personally, I would at least look for a good price on a "name-brand" bearing; Nachi, NTN, or SKF. I'd rather pay twice or three times up front, and perhaps avoid premature replacement.

Pulling and replacing bearings is no fun unless absolutely necessary! But, a bearing job on a jointer is wayy easy compared to tearing down a planer! A bearing job on a machine purchased used is to be expected. But, having to replace new bearings any time soon that I installed myself--unacceptable!

[Stephen Cherry]

a "name-brand" bearing; Nachi, NTN, or SKF. I'd rather pay twice or three times up front, and perhaps avoid premature replacement.

El correcto.

Bearings, personal flotation devices, tires,...: Places not to try to save a few bucks by skimping on quality.

Particularly in a jointer where the aim is precision.

[Mike Heidrick]

The Grizzly ones work on 99.999% of their jointers.

[Peter Quinn]

This is an interesting conversation to me for two reasons. One, I have a 15" Byrd head that I purchased from Grizzly and am getting ready to install in a DC-380 delta planer. I purchased the bearings from Grizzly after much consideration. The Delta replacements would have been almost $100, but then again, they charge $45 for a $3 quart of oil for the gear box, so price is no gauge of quality or value in my mind from Delta. I looked at several major on line bearing places that were recommended by fellow creekers, and prices in the size needed ranged from $4-$6 for basic quality sealed bearings to $325 for high precision ceramic bearings, with lots of different price points in between. Go figure. So whats a guy like me who knows nothing about bearing grades and specs to do? Go radical overkill on ceramic bearings? Stay up nights wondering if my $4 bearings are good enough? Throw a dart at a price list? The jointer was easy, I bough the head from Holbren who included the bearings, and frankly they seemed better than the ones coming off the thing, but it was fairly well used, so who knows. So do I install the head with the Grizzly bearings or spend a whopping $17 on the NSK ones on line? Still scratching my head on this one, but the popular opinion seems to be go for the upgrade.

Which leads to the second reason I find this conversation interesting. If I were to suggest that the reason Grizzly tools are cheaper is because they have been speced with lower grade components than other more expensive brands, and that while the castings may all be made in the same place this doesn't mean all of the machines are created equal, a veritable poop storm of angry loyal grizzly owner and users rises up and shows its teeth. Ok, maybe its not that dramatic, but close. I might even get a reprimand from the owner! But when asked "Would you trust these $3 chinese bearings with your Byrd head" the answer seems to be generally "NO". Granted this post is a pretty small sample set at this point, and when I asked where to get new bearings, several users did recommend getting them from Grizzly based on their personal experience, which I did. I have no answer to the question, but I have the Grizzly bearings, and based on a visual inspection they seem to be a decent product, I have no idea where they are made.

So would those recommending NOT using the $3 grizzly bearings also recommend NOT using grizzly tools? Just what sort of bearings do you imagine are in the tools to begin with? And are there any engineers out there in the group that have real specific actual knowledge of bearing grades that can make recommendations about where to source bearings appropriate for planer heads? My gut feeling is that Grizzly would not continue to sell these bearings if they had a high failure rate or very rapid disintegration, and that generally as load and precision requirement go, small woodworking planers don't require the highest grade of bearings to function well. But then again sometimes my gut tells me to eat two chili cheese dogs after a night of drinking Jameson, so its not always to b trusted!

[Brad Patch]

I purchased a Byrd Shelix cutterhead for my Griz G0490 8" jointer and want to put new bearings in when I install the newcutter head. Griz quoted me $ about $3.00 each for the 2 bearings.....sounds too good to be true. I called a local King Bearing retailer and was quoted $26 each for top quality American made bearings (National Bearing, I believe), and they also had a $14 bearing from General Bearing, which I believe is making bearings in China now. I'm inclined to spend the extra money to get the better bearing. I don't want to go cheap on a bearing that might get sloppy when I'm trying to shave 64th of an inch off the edge of a board.

Any thoughts on this?

Call Accurate Bearing Company, Addison, Ill. 1-800-323-6548. Ask for Lynn (she specilizes in small orders) She will get what you need at a good price. All the guys at oldwoodworkingmmachines.com know her and think the world of her.

[Josh Rudolph]

Peter,

Good points, but now I want two chili cheese dogs! I feel those that say no to the bearings will say no to Grizzly tools also.

I just installed Grizzly bearings back into my machine and never thought twice about it. I probably didn't need to replace the one's I had, but figured since I would have it open, I might as well replace them. Like you said, if they were having high failure rates, I am sure the customers would not tolerate it.

If they fail, it will be a bit of an inconvenience to have to tear down and reinstall new ones, but it also forces me to do a good overhaul of the machine. So it isn't all wasted time.

Josh

[keith micinski]

Cheaper bearings used for a few hours a month by hobiest's would be just fine. Spending money on high end bearings wouldn't be a waste but the worst thing for a bearing is to sit unused for months on end stationary, which is what most hobiest machines do. A higher end bearing isn't going to help that.

[Matt Kestenbaum]

Peter -- I too find this interesting and I am not in the immediate market for a Byrd head (I wish I was!). And I am not a machinist either -- truth be told I'd call myself half a woodworker.

I am going to stay away from any comments having to do with the pros and cons (pre or post purchase!!) on my decision to buy a Grizzly jointer for the very reasons you expressed. BUT, I will say that part of my purchase decision was that the apparent lack complexity of the machine itself (parallelogram beds, fence, motor, cutter head), which seemed to me to be about as simple as it gets in woodworking machinery...the form factor has not changed much in many years . That thinking was put to a tough test when I ran into some issues that could not be diagnosed or resolved via a million hours of customer support time. So, I sought out a pro. A machinist/technician who services the shop equipment at virtually all of the universities between Princeton and UPenn made a stop in my basement. I got the repair I needed, and a diagnosis of a bad bearing at the cutter-head. He gave me an education about bearings as the machine within the machine. Net net he said a poor bearing (even one that runs) will, over time, wear everything else out...motors, mounts, shafts, etc.

Value is hard to recognize...and none of us can be expert in everything. knowing that I am replacing the bearings anyway--a part I now understand to be so critical to everything else working correctly--on a machine that has already given me some grief without trying to find high quality bearings seems like cutting my nose off to spite my face. Even without a $400 replacement Byrd head I already have a $1000 invested, so what another $100?

[Greg Portland]

If I were to suggest that the reason Grizzly tools are cheaper is because they have been speced with lower grade components than other more expensive brands, and that while the castings may all be made in the same place this doesn't mean all of the machines are created equal, a veritable poop storm of angry loyal grizzly owner and users rises up and shows its teeth.

The components in the "Extreme" line are significantly different than the components in their base lineup. It's kind of like comparing Dewalt to B&D. Now, I have no idea if those $3 bearings are the ones in the Extreme series or if they are a lower quality option. However, you have to imagine that Grizzly is going to get -some- price cut from the manufacturers because of the large volume of bearings that they are buying and selling.