News — How are ball bearings produced?

How a Precision Ball is Made Heading: To begin, heading machines cut wire into short lengths and shape it into spherical shapes between sized dies. Deflashing: The flash line, the lip left by the forming dies, is ground off as balls roll between heavy, cast iron plates. Soft Grinding: Similar to deflashing, except that a fine grit grinding stone is used to improve precision. Heat-treating: Carbon steel balls are next carburized and hardened. Heat treatment allows for the desired hardness and case depth. Descaling: This step takes away the residues and small burrs from the heat-treating process. Hard Grinding: Slow, methodical grinding ensures proper sizing and sphericity, with tolerances...