HEllo guys, Anyone have experience having a bearing cut in half? (The cleanest way possible?) I would like to have a bearing with an outer race defect cross sectioned for show and tell.

I assume you are talking about somehting like a deep groove bearing that can be removed from the pillow block housing. There are two ways to cut apart a deep groove bearing. The first is what our machinist do when I request them to cut apart a bearing. The 2nd I read about somewhere... have never seen it done.

1 - Have a machiniest cut the outer race, cage, and inner race at 2 points 180 degrees apart using a grinding wheel. Don't use a torch since that is more destructive (discolors a large area around the cut)

OR

2 - Drill out every single rivet in the cage so you can separate the halves of the cage. Now push the balls all to one side of the bearing. Now pull the inner ring away from the balls and push equal/opposite on inner/outer ring at the side of the bearing where the balls aren't. Should pop apart (be careful in case it comes apart unexpectedly). This is somewhat of the reverse of the way bearings are assembled.

All this should be done with safety foremost in mind. (wear safety glasses, gloves etc.). Best approach is to get the assistance of an experienced machinist... assuming you are someone like me = not an experienced machinist.

Cut it with a Metabo. That's the easiest thing going and clean too.

David Eason

David is right.

I like Electricpete's 2nd option. I drill out the rivets and disassemble. No sharp corners when done. No damage to any of the components.

I use a cutting wheel, not a grinding wheel. And make sure to mark each side before you cut, so you can orient it.

Since I work in a met lab for a bearing company I do this stuff routinely. All our sectioning is done by wet abrasive cutting. This gives the cleanest cut. Other acceptable alternatives are wire EDM and abrasive jet cutting.

Electricpete is dead on with disassembly methods.

quote:

wet abrasive cutting

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

What is a Metabo?

It's a brand of cutting wheel. Very thin and cuts clean and quick through bearing races.

Absent a machine shop setting, it is the quickest and easiest way through a race, imo.

I think that the terms grinding wheel, cutting wheel, metabo as used in this thread were all intended to describe the same type tool.

At our plant, the mechanics call it a grinding wheel. If that's the wrong term, then I apologize.

And if it is the wrong term, apparently we are not the only ones using it that way:

At the first link - they call the metabo a grinder
http://www.heavydutystore.com/angle-grinders-c-432.html

At the second link entitled "grinding wheel" are included many wheels for cutting
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grinding_wheel

This message has been edited. Last edited by: electricpete,

Pete,
A Metabo LOOKS like a grinder, but when you see it in action, there's no comparison. A grinding wheel takes a while, makes a huge cut, and leaves a big mess. You can cut both sides of a bearing with a Metabo before a grinding wheel even gets started.

David Eason

The surest way to know the difference is to use a grinding wheel to cut one side of a big bearing and then use a Metabo to cut the other. No further research will be necessary.

for us Metabo (in europe) is the name of a German power tools manufacturer.

www.metabo.com

I know of 'grinding disks' and 'cutting disks' for the respective application

Another thought just came to me. If you have access to a good tool shop band saw, you can order a carbide-tipped blade, which essentially grinds its way through the cut. It's slow, but if someone doesn't want to lay out the capital for proper abrasive cutting equipment, this is one alternative.

Or you could find a met lab, which could make the cuts for you.