[Bell Historians] technical question

[matthewhigby at a...]

In a message dated 13/02/03 20:04:49 GMT Standard Time, djb122 at y... 
writes:


> One of the towers which I look after has got 4 of the bells hung on
> light-duty ball bearings with open sided housings. The bells are of course
> quite light (tenor 5 cwt). Can anyone tell me what the life expectancy of
> this type of bearing is? They're not showing any signs of trouble at the
> moment, but they don't really look very long-lasting and I don't want any
> unexpected problems!
> 

The self lube pillow block housings, most often used with light bells (and 
indeed some heavy ones - Cheddar until recently) are easily replaceable due 
to their simple method of fixing and small cost compared with the SKF Split 
housing type of bearing. 
The method of fixing can vary from small grub screws to tapered sleves or an 
offset O type ring on the outside.

For example, we recently bought the following 25mm bore bearings from a local 
stockist:

RHP self lube with cast iron housings £14.85 + VAT (Complete 
Unit)
Koyo copies (which we have used for swing chime and very light bells) £6.32 + 
VAT (Complete Unit). 
SKF Split housing with self aligning ball bearings £47.00 + VAT.

The 4cwt 6 at Westwood (1981 WBF) are fitted with similar bearings and are 
still going very well indeed. St Edmunds Arts Centre, Salisbury (tenor & 7th) 
appear to be going well on their 50mm self lube units.

Matthew
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