Bearings and the orientation(s) they work best...

[Dave Draper]

You see all these sliders out there with bearings mounted horizontally, vertically and diagonally, but which orientation do bearings provide the smoothest, most stable operation? If I had to hazard a guess, I would say vertically, but am interested to know your opinions.


DD.

 

[morgan_moore]

Different bearings are designed for different load directions http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_bearingFor example a 'thrust bearing' is designed to take a load as appropriate to the pan element of a tripod head (downwards), 'normal' bearings are designed for a load similar to a train wheelI guess 'normal bearings are probably ok to about 45 degrees off axis, when you see a design that goes beyond that you should question the design?S

 

[Jeremy_Sawatzky]

Normal ball bearings are designed to take a lateral load as well as a lighter thrust load. - This is due to the balls sitting in a V type groove in the housings. You can push down and side to side and it will still work as intended. Roller bearings/ needle bearings are only for lateral loads. Thrust bearings - using either ball bearings or rollers can take enormous thrust loads perpendicular to the bearing due to much larger contact areas.

its not the way the bearings are positioned that matters, its where the force is being applied.