Sealed Ball Bearing, or ?

A sealed bearing has rubber or other similar elastomeric seals that are fixed to the bearing and rub on the shaft.
A shielded bearing has metal labyrinth shields , like over-lapping washers, attached to the inner and outer races, but not actually touching each other.
The shielded bearing will have less friction, but is not as well protected from contamination.

-- Michael :-{| Diapers and politicians both need to be changed often; and for the same reason.

crank49

Thanks

-- E J ------- Always Keep a Firm Grip on Your Tool

A sealed bearing is designed to seal against all contaminates especially liquids. whereas a shielded bearing is designed to prevent contamination from particulate matter.

Keep in mind that there are ‘cheap’ ones of both.
One main feature is the amount of lube they put into them.
Some I have seen seem to have had very little lube and go bad quickly.

-- Website is finally up and running....www.woodandwrite.com

I visit the old wood working machine forum (owwm.org) on a fairly regular basis. The folks on that forum are pretty much universally of the opinion that when replacing bearings on a machine it is always better to go with sealed bearings. I have done a handful of restores myself and followed this philosophy every time with only good things to say about sealed bearings.

I agree that some bearings have more lubrication in them. I have seen this in a lot of areas especially in farm equipment. Ditto on the difference between the shileded and sealed bearings. I think I would go with the sealed if I could get them.

THanks for asking this Bubinga… all good information I am taking in here.

-- Galootish log blog, http://www.timberframe-tools.com