Motion & Linkage

Stainless Steel Spherical Bearings

Name: Stainless Steel Spherical Bearing
Brand: Profab Machine
Availability: InStock

Profab stainless steel spherical bearings are designed for angular movement and misalignment compensation in demanding industrial environments. Material, sliding system and dimensional configurations can be selected according to load, movement and corrosion requirements. With over 20 years of experience in stainless steel component manufacturing, we combine advanced CNC machining capabilities, strict quality management, and streamlined production processes to meet the diverse needs of global customers.

What is Stainless Steel Spherical Bearing?

Stainless steel spherical bearings, also known as spherical plain bearings, are designed to accommodate angular misalignment in mechanical linkages. They are widely used in industries such as food processing, marine equipment, automation, aerospace, and heavy machinery due to their corrosion resistance and self-aligning capabilities.

Product Range

Types of Stainless Steel Spherical Plain Bearings

Whether you are an equipment manufacturer, system integrator, or industrial buyer, Profab can provide standard and custom spherical bearing configurations based on your drawings, specifications, tolerances, and material requirements. From prototype design to mass production, we ensure consistent quality, reliable performance, and responsive support every step of the way.

Spherical Bearing With Seals

Sealed spherical bearing help block moisture, dust, and light contamination around the ball and race, which is useful on exposed pivot points and vehicle suspension-style linkages.

Spherical Plain Bearing

Use this option when your design has oscillating motion, moderate angular travel, and limited access for routine greasing.

Radial Spherical Bearing

GEC Series radial spherical plain bearing options are built for higher radial load positions such as cylinder eyes, heavy linkage pivots, and articulated equipment joints.

Injection Molded Spherical Bearing

SLB Series bearings use an injection-molded race or liner structure to support quiet motion and corrosion-resistant assemblies. This series is suitable when your equipment needs a cleaner sliding interface and lower noise.

Maintenance Free Spherical Bearings

WPB Series maintenance-free spherical bearings are for pivot points where frequent lubrication is impractical. They are often selected for food equipment, packaging machinery, access panels, and outdoor linkages.

High Misalignment Spherical Bearings

YPB Series bearings help you manage larger angular movement in linkages that cannot stay perfectly aligned under load. They are useful for steering joints, suspension links, and lift mechanisms.

Material Specification

Choosing the Right Grade

304 Stainless

General-purpose grade. Good resistance to humidity, mild chemicals, and food-safe cleaning agents. Use this for indoor machinery, agricultural equipment, and dry-run automation.

Food · Automation · Indoor

316 / 316L

Molybdenum addition gives 316L roughly 3× better chloride resistance than 304. Required for marine applications, salt-spray environments, offshore, and food-grade lines with CIP chemical cleaning.

Marine · Chemical · Pumps

17-4PH

Precipitation-hardened grade. After H900 heat treatment, tensile strength reaches ~1310 MPa — significantly stronger than 316. Used in motorsport, aerospace, and high-cycle fatigue applications where load ratings matter more than cost.

Aerospace · Motorsport · Hi-load

Applications

Spherical Bearing Solutions By Industries

Profab Machine adapts stainless spherical bearing designs to your equipment, load direction, environment, and assembly space.

Food And Packaging Machinery

Install maintenance free stainless spherical bearings in filling heads, transfer arms, guide linkages, and guarding pivots. Stainless materials and sealed or lined structures help the joint survive cleaning cycles and reduce grease related maintenance.

Marine Equipment

Use stainless steel spherical plain bearings in steering actuators, hatch arms, access panel pivots, and deck hardware. You get better corrosion resistance than plain carbon steel when salt spray or outdoor moisture reaches the joint.

Hydraulic Cylinders

Fit radial spherical plain bearing units into cylinder eyes, clevis mounts, and loader linkages. The bearing compensates for angular misalignment so the rod end does not carry side load from imperfect mounting geometry.

Construction And Agricultural

Use sealed radial spherical bearings in lift arms, control rods, steering links, and oscillating joints exposed to dust, water, and vibration.

Exploring Core Features of PROFAB Stainless Spherical Bearings

Angular Misalignment Compensation
The spherical sliding interface allows angular movement between the inner and outer rings. It also helps accommodate shaft-to-housing misalignment and reduce unwanted edge loading.

Load Capacity for Demanding Applications
Bearing load capacity depends on the bearing size, material combination, sliding system and operating conditions. Models can be selected for radial loads in industrial, automation and linkage applications based on the required load rating.

Excellent Corrosion and Wear Resistance
Precision machined from 304/316 stainless steel, it resists salt spray, chemical corrosion, and abrasion for longer service life.

Flexible lubrication
Optional self-lubricating PTFE lining or lubrication programme with greasing device to meet different maintenance cycle requirements.

Superior PROFAB Machining - For High Quality SS Spherical Bearings

Machining centres utilise the latest CNC technology to turn and mill stainless steel spherical bearing housings and inner rings with exceptional precision. Heat treatment is applied where required by the selected material and component specification. Precipitation-hardening grades such as 17-4PH can be aged to achieve the specified mechanical properties. Stainless steel components can be cleaned and passivated after machining to remove surface contaminants and promote a stable passive oxide layer.

For the assembly step, self-lubricating PTFE linings or grease lubrication systems with dust-proof seals are fitted to different models. Dimensional and concentricity checks are done in batches on a CMM, and corrosion resistance is tested with an ASTM B117 salt spray test.

Profab spherical plain bearings are kept with quality and reliability in mind, thus calibrated to specific torque values.

Why Profab

Your Reliable Spherical Bearings Supplier

Complete Linkage Solution Sourcing

Reduce administrative overhead and thread/fit mismatches. Partner with a manufacturer that supplies fully compatible stainless spherical plain bearings, standoff spacers, rod ends, and locknuts as a complete assembly.

Drawing & Load-Case Verification

Before issuing a quote, we evaluate your drawing’s fit tolerances, liner specifications, and operational load cases to ensure the chosen bearing configuration handles your motion path and environment.

Full Material Traceability & Precision Fit

We CNC-machine all race components, housings, and custom sleeves to tight tolerance bands. Every batch of 304, 316, or 17-4PH material is verified with full EN 10204 3.1 material test reports (MTRs) provided upon request.

Build a Complete System

Stainless Steel Spherical Bearings Kits

Profab Machine supplies integrated spherical bearing kits that package every surrounding hardware component your assembly team needs. Sourcing spherical plain bearings together with matching hardware eliminates dimension mismatches across the bearing bore, housing seat, mounting bolts, and overall linkage stackup width.

Misalignment Spacers

Reduces mounting bolt diameter while dramatically increasing the angular swivel movement of the spherical plain bearing. Essential for high-articulation steering, suspension, and hydraulic cylinder linkages where standard housing faces limit angular clearance around the spherical race.

Learn Mroe

Rod Ends

Combines a housing, threaded shank, and spherical plain bearing into a single adjustable joint. Available in matching 304, 316, and 17-4PH stainless grades to ensure uniform corrosion resistance across the entire spherical joint linkage assembly.

Learn Mroe

Jam Nuts

Locks threaded rod ends and spherical plain bearing adjusters securely in place after length calibration. Supplied in matching stainless alloys with precision thread classes (UNF/Metric) to prevent vibration looseness in outdoor and washdown equipment.

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Custom Options

Custom Spherical Bearing Configurations

Bore And Inch Size

Bore tolerance must be confirmed against your pin, bolt, and operating clearance.

Stainless Grade

Material choices depend on load capacity, surface hardness, corrosion exposure, and wear requirements.

Liner Structure

Choose metal-to-metal, PTFE-lined, or composite sliding structures based on lubrication access, friction target, and service environment.

Seal Structure

Sealed configurations help keep contamination out of the contact surface. Open designs remain useful when inspection, cleaning, or relubrication access is required.

Technical Reference

Specifications & Videos

B DIA. (mm)	D DIA. (mm)	B DIA. (Inch)	D DIA. (Inch)
3	12	0.1650	0.4687
4	12	0.1900	0.5625
5	14/16	0.2500	0.6562
6	14/18	0.3125	0.7500
8	16/22	0.3750	0.8125
10	19/26	0.4375	0.9062
12	22/30	0.5000	1.0000
14	34	0.5625	1.0937
15	26	0.6250	1.1875
16	38	0.7500	1.4375
17	30	0.8750	1.5625
18	42	1.0000	1.7500
20	35/46	1.0000	2.0000
22	50	1.1875	2.3750
25	42/56	1.2500	2.3750
30	47/66	1.5000	2.7500
Custom	Custom	1.7500	3.1250
		2.0000	3.5000
		Custom	Custom

Surface Finish

Surface Finish Options

High-performance stainless steel spherical plain bearings rely on precision-ground articulating surfaces and specialized surface treatments to resist aggressive corrosion, reduce friction, and prevent premature wear. Profab Machine recommends optimized surface finishes based on stainless alloy selection, liner type, sealing method, and operating environment.

Precision-Ground Spherical Contact Surfaces

CNC spherical grinding optimizes the ball-to-race contact geometry, strictly controlling internal radial clearance (standard to tight F2 specs) and promoting smooth oscillating motion under high static and dynamic loads.

Chemical Passivation

Removes free iron contamination deposited during machining, fully restoring the uniform chromium oxide passive layer across the housing, snap-ring grooves, and shank threads. Essential for preserving baseline corrosion resistance in 304, 316, and 17-4PH stainless grades.

Electropolishing (Optional Upgrade)

Removes surface micro-peaks to deliver an ultra-smooth, chromium-enriched surface finish. Highly recommended for pharmaceutical, biotech, and food processing machinery where low surface roughness prevents particle adherence and simplifies CIP washdown protocols.

Mirror Polishing (Optional)

Specifically applied to metal-to-metal (unlined) stainless steel spherical plain bearings. Specialized hard-platings significantly harden the spherical contact zone and prevent material transfer (galling) under extreme alternating loads.

FAQ

Common Questions

Not seeing your question? Email us at [email protected] and we typically reply same day.

How do stainless steel spherical bearings handle misalignment?

Their design allows for both angular rotation and slight shaft misalignments, reducing stress on machinery and extending service life.

Are these bearings suitable for food or medical applications?

Yes. With 304 or 316 stainless steel, they meet hygienic and corrosion-resistant requirements often needed in food processing and medical equipment.

Can Stainless Steel Spherical Bearings Be Used in High-Temperature Applications?

Yes, but the allowable operating temperature depends on the complete bearing configuration. The liner, seal, lubricant, and material combination can limit the usable temperature range even when the stainless steel components themselves can withstand higher temperatures.

What Is the Difference Between PTFE-Lined and Metal-on-Metal Spherical Bearings?

PTFE-lined spherical bearings are generally preferred where low friction, reduced maintenance, and limited lubrication access are important. Metal-on-metal spherical bearings are often selected for higher load, shock, or high-temperature applications where relubrication is acceptable. The appropriate construction depends on load, movement, speed, environment, and service requirements.

How Do I Choose the Right Stainless Steel Spherical Bearing?

Selection should start with the required bore diameter, outside diameter, width, radial and axial loads, misalignment angle, operating temperature, movement frequency, and environmental conditions. The sliding contact material, lubrication method, sealing, and housing fit should also be checked before selecting a bearing.