Loose Steel Bearings Balls Question?

Thin-Slice

Thin-Slice

Joined
Jul 4, 2016
Messages
1,165
Hello fellow knife nuts, just wanted to find some info if possible before I make any purchases.

Have been looking to buy some bearing balls for a flipper. Wanted to get the ceramic ones but they seemed to be a bit pricey if I wanted to replace all the old steel bearing balls on my flipper. So I looked around and found lots of good deals but I see different steels being used and wanted to find out what is the recommended one. Also was given info to look for Grade 3, 5 and 10 specifically. Was looking at 1.5 mm diameter.

I have seen the following in my search:
  • 440C hardened balls
  • Chrome - no idea if chrome is mixed with the iron or its just on outside???? or is this 52100??
  • Carbon steel- no specifics mentioned so no idea about specifics

Are there other types? Additionally, if anyone has any experience with where to buy from I would appreciate that. If the link is not a paid advertiser if you could just PM me. Thank you.
 
I think Alpha knife supply will have exactly the Bbs you're looking for.
 
I just bought 40 replacement g5 sini ceramic bearings for $10 shipped. Dont buy your bearings from knife supply warehouses. You are paying middle man markup. If you want bearings that dont require lubrication and wont rust get some silicon nitride. What are you looking to spend?
 
PURPLEDC said:
I just bought 40 replacement g5 sini ceramic bearings for $10 shipped. Dont buy your bearings from knife supply warehouses. You are paying middle man markup. If you want bearings that dont require lubrication and wont rust get some silicon nitride. What are you looking to spend?
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My flipper has 34 balls @1.5 mm diameter. I looked at AKS and they charge $27 for 100ct ceramic G10 plus shipping no idea how much total would be.

I only need 34 or in increments of 10ct, so 40 extra 6 in case I lose some.

EDIT: can you tell me from where? You also said no lube on ceramic? Is that true, never bothered to look it up. I am OK with the $10 honestly for 40ct as u mentioned.
 
Thin-Slice said:
My flipper has 34 balls @1.5 mm diameter. I looked at AKS and they charge $27 for 100ct ceramic G10 plus shipping no idea how much total would be.

I only need 34 or in increments of 10ct, so 40 extra 6 in case I lose some.

EDIT: can you tell me from where? You also said no lube on ceramic? Is that true, never bothered to look it up. I am OK with the $10 honestly for 40ct as u mentioned.
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I get my bearings on ebay if i need them in a hurry. If i dont need them quick i buy them direct from china. Now trust me i know that sounds bad but most places getting their bearings are getting them from china or the supplier they get them from does.

As for ceramic and lubricant ceramic is a so smooth that they have 10 percent less friction than steel even without lubricant. And since ceramic doesnt rust you also dont need it for corrosion resistance either. Now i still use grease to get the balls in place if its ikbs or shiro style. But you can rinse the grease out with bapthat or lighter fluid and they work just fine as the pivot of the knife has a very low load. And no high speed heat making lubricant necessary. And if you can run your bearing system dry then their is no lubricant to attract dirt or dust and it is simply a matter of compressed air to blow out debris.
 
I have also been thinking about upgrading some of my flippers to ceramic bearings. The problem I have is that I don't know how to replace the balls in the current bearings. Alpha knife supply already have them installed, but at $6 a pair. How easy is it to remove and install bearings? Is there an instructional how to somewhere?
 
dvsdev said:
I have also been thinking about upgrading some of my flippers to ceramic bearings. The problem I have is that I don't know how to replace the balls in the current bearings. Alpha knife supply already have them installed, but at $6 a pair. How easy is it to remove and install bearings? Is there an instructional how to somewhere?
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Most cages its simply a matter of pushing the old bearings out and popping new ones in. I have had many bearing equipped knives and i have not run into one yet that the bearings didnt pop out of the cage. But there is a way to make it easier. I take a small section of a 2x4 and drill an appropriate size hole for the cage im working with and i place the cage and more specifically the bearingg i want to replace over that hole. Then i take a pencil with a fresh eraser and i simply push on the bearing from the side of the cage That didnt accept the bearing and it pops out, lands in the hole and you simply reverse the cage and do the same with putting the new ones in. The erasers only purpose is to safve your fingers and to not deform the cage with metal tools. It has worked so far.

Edited to add. If the cage is a thick plastic carrier like kvt you can sharpen the pencil, break the tip (hopefully with no graphite exposed so its just a bit of hollow wood for the tip) and use that end to push it out.
 
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