Bearings are produced worldwide and used in applications ranging from conveyors to aerospace applications. Each country or region has their own “Bearing Steel Standard.” Based on where the company is located and where its bearings are manufactured, the steel is coded as one of the following:
- North America: SAE 52100
- Europe: 100Cr6
- China: GCr15
- Japan: SUJ2
In theory, all steel grades are comparable, however, the standard chemical composition of chromium steel will vary depending on the country where it is produced. Although it is similar to all standards, GCr15 is generally viewed as a different grade of steel. The belief is that the Chinese steel is not as clean as the other standards, which is why reliable companies that produce bearings in China buy steel that uses the finest melt sources available.
Reputable bearing manufacturers test steel using a spectrometer to measure the properties of incoming steel deliveries.
What is a Spectrometer?
A spectrometer is a machine that excites atoms in the sample steel by creating a spark between the sample and an electrode. This spark causes electrons to emit light, which is converted into a spectral pattern. The quality and quantity of the material composition is measured using the intensity of peaks in the spectrum. Test results are then compared against the proper composition for the material.
Differences in Chinese Steel
Some Chinese steels will have different manganese and/or phosphor, while others can have higher sulfur. It is important for the bearing producer to select the right melt source in order for it to be equal to European and North American steels. Doing so increases the cost of the material by 30%, but yields a better product.
How to Verify Bearing Steel
Insist on viewing the bearing manufacturer’s certifications or incoming steel inspection reports. If your supplier is ISO9001 or TS16949, as is CCTY Bearing Company, such information should be readily available.
China is home for the bean counters and start up company's.
Agreed. It would be irresponsible to willingly put in a Chinese bearing over a non Chinese manufactured Koyo, Timken, NSK, Nachi, or SKF.
I'd agree to a point. There is potential for good product if the product is already designed and all the tooling is supplied and paid for by the parent company and they just moved production to China for the bean counter aspect. I don't think QC will be maintained in the long run. Inferior quality is going to get stamped and put in the box no matter what by the 8 year old kid running the machines.
Just because China has the blue print, doesn't mean the QC and specification is adhered to. I've worked in industry where parts come from China. Within the same brand, produced by a reputable company, albeit in China, week to week the parts coming in from China were not consistent and from week to week you'd get tight or loose components, and sometimes you would get spot on - exactly what the blue print likely said in the first place.
The difference between a superior company to an inferior company is how often the piece of crap part goes out the door. As soon as it becomes regular practice you don't know what you're getting, the company is no good. Produced in China, or anywhere in the world.
So, just because it is made in China, doesn't make it a bad product. Even a blind squirrel can find a nut once in awhile.
But I'd almost be willing to guarantee if I bought 100 bearings from Koyo-Japan and 100 bearings from Koyo-Japan-but-produced-in-China(which isn't even a thing...but if it was) then I would likely end up with a lot more PREMIUM quality bearings from Koyo-Japan than what China chose to box and ship, regardless of who's blue prints they looked at.
If Stihl shut down every factory, and moved it all to China. Sent all the tooling there. Here are the blue prints, start hammering out our flagship saws. The raw materials used are inferior, the quality control is inferior, the workers aren't putting in the work(read quality control), corners are getting cut. Things are getting put in boxes marked guaranteed pieces of crap. Within 5 years Stihl is a washed up, over priced, no name company. Only way they'd ever sell a saw again, is if their prices were slashed accordingly and I guarantee no one in professional business of using chainsaws would be buying a Stihl.
Stihl product produced by the parent company in the home country paying top dollar workers, there is less chance a crappy end product gets put in the box and sent. Specifications are more adhered to. If Stihl chose to source out some of the work to China.... as long as when the sub component is received on shore it is inspected before put into service. I'd say nothing wrong with that. Take out the middle man and China is garbage running into the ground. It's cheaper for a reason... Pretty sure quality standards go out the window and things start getting boxed on a whim.
All that being saiddddd........... kinda thinking where company's made their name then outsourced to other country's (think smaller China's...less quality cuts) are the inferior bearings. SKF Argentina is probably inferior to original SKF products. A Nachi bearing NOT made in Japan is going to be inferior to the native Japan Nachi.
A Japanese bearing is probably the best on the market, and I'd say a Koyo Japanese bearing is probably better than the rest of Japanese bearing manufacturers.
Is an SKF Argentina so inferior to a Koyo Japan bearing it wont work? Probably not SKF is still a reputable company, albeit slightly bean countered out by going to Argentina...as long as the bearing isn't hammered out directly out of the box, it should be good to go. Life of the bearing is likely the only consideration. I'm sure they'll both function the same way until failure.
Some basic linear math...not sure if the oiling principle a 2 stroke is linear...but... Chainsaw running for 20 minutes on a half liter of fuel. 15 minutes full throttle 9k RPM, 5 mins idle 3k RPM. In 20 minutes the bearing just did 150,000 revolutions. In half a liter of fuel mixed at 50:1 there is 10ml of oil.
Per minute, that bearing is only seeing .5ml of oil...or less because it's actually distributed throughout the entire bottom end.
That's a whole lot of steel on steel getting spun around with very little lubrication. I want the best bearing made of the best raw materials, produced to exacting specifications.
That's my .02 cents on the matter. Having said that, my SKF france bearings are going directly in the garbage because they already probably met their half life a long time ago.
Even if the best company in the world phoned up China and said produce our product, here's unlimited tooling and money, that company would no longer remain the best.
All China is, is high quantity, inferior quality, bean counter, end product can't be overseen before shipped to a loading dock on this side of the world.
Nothing wrong with a farm quality 4H babe. lol