I am a fan of the MultiStar Super 32 live center that I bought from The Sanding Glove some years back. I like a revolving center with multiple tips. I'd burned out an Apprentice one some years ago and tried the MultiStar as it purported infinite life since the bearings could be changed. I believe the same applies to the other MultiStar live centers, but am not sure.
The Sanding Glove dropped the line a couple of years ago, and I wondered about that. Apparently lack of supply. I now see that Peter Child in the UK has also dropped it and a German company claims to sell it soon, but not yet. I assume that the original corporation had troubles, despite a fine product.
So I bit the bullet and took mine apart. I'm not a machinist but I do know how to remove a retaining ring with "pin pliers". Inside the body of the center I found three bearing races each with the code 6001Z. A Google of that designation gave me sources for the bearings, but my curiosity is endless so I researched the nature of the coding. Bearings are coded with a 7 digit number, but lead zeros are left out. For some reason the standard counts backwards, the "first digit" is the last (actually quite logical since it matches the "units" digit of our counting system). The 01 defines the ID of the bearing as 12mm (which matched my measurement with my calipers of 11.97mm). There was nothing in the coding to indicate the OD of the bearing, the third and fourth digits (the 60) designate the type of bearing. A bit more Googling and I found that the OD is in a standard pattern to the ID, as is the width. It also seems that the worldwide standards are metric, there are few makers of Imperial (inches) bearings even in the US. Remember that the bearing is internal to the device and can be of any standard it wants to be - except in the case where it is DIY replaceable, as the MultiStar is.
I am going to place an order on Amazon from one or another of their advertised 6001Z bearings (advertised for specific products, but now I know the 6001Z is uniform). I will order three 6001Z bearings at about 5 bucks apiece and put them in reserve so that if my Super 32 dies I can bring it back to life.
This isn't limited to the M/S Super 32, it can apply to any things involving bearings on our lathes. My brief research tells me that the markings on the bearings aren't brand specific, they are an international standard code (except that last letter).
Best, Jon
The Sanding Glove dropped the line a couple of years ago, and I wondered about that. Apparently lack of supply. I now see that Peter Child in the UK has also dropped it and a German company claims to sell it soon, but not yet. I assume that the original corporation had troubles, despite a fine product.
So I bit the bullet and took mine apart. I'm not a machinist but I do know how to remove a retaining ring with "pin pliers". Inside the body of the center I found three bearing races each with the code 6001Z. A Google of that designation gave me sources for the bearings, but my curiosity is endless so I researched the nature of the coding. Bearings are coded with a 7 digit number, but lead zeros are left out. For some reason the standard counts backwards, the "first digit" is the last (actually quite logical since it matches the "units" digit of our counting system). The 01 defines the ID of the bearing as 12mm (which matched my measurement with my calipers of 11.97mm). There was nothing in the coding to indicate the OD of the bearing, the third and fourth digits (the 60) designate the type of bearing. A bit more Googling and I found that the OD is in a standard pattern to the ID, as is the width. It also seems that the worldwide standards are metric, there are few makers of Imperial (inches) bearings even in the US. Remember that the bearing is internal to the device and can be of any standard it wants to be - except in the case where it is DIY replaceable, as the MultiStar is.
I am going to place an order on Amazon from one or another of their advertised 6001Z bearings (advertised for specific products, but now I know the 6001Z is uniform). I will order three 6001Z bearings at about 5 bucks apiece and put them in reserve so that if my Super 32 dies I can bring it back to life.
This isn't limited to the M/S Super 32, it can apply to any things involving bearings on our lathes. My brief research tells me that the markings on the bearings aren't brand specific, they are an international standard code (except that last letter).
Best, Jon
