Bandsaw guide bearings Sealed or shielded

[CPeter James]

I need to replace the bearings on my Carter type guides on my Powermatic 14" band saw. Should I go with sealed or shielded? I can get grade ABEC3 on EBAY. Is that good enough for the speed of the blade?

[glenn bradley]

I went with double shielded (http://www.vxb.com/page/bearings/PROD/6202ZZ).

[Thomas Hotchkin]

CPeter
I would go with sealed run a little warmer the shielded bearings, but should keep the saw dust out longer. I pop the seals off my guide bearings and fill the bearings completely full of grease, no void for dust to build up. If $$ is not a problem you can order non contact sealed bearings, If temperature is a problem. Tom

[John Coloccia]

I prefer shielded. Sealed bearing can be quite stiff and it's not really what you want on a bandsaw. Non-contact seals are nice, but it might be cheaper to just buy another bandsaw :)

[Aleks Hunter]

I put carter guides on My bandmill and when the original bearings went I put on timkin shielded double row bearings. I called them and explained what I wanted and they specified what would work best. 50k bd ft later they work like a charm.

[Bruce Wrenn]

I need to replace the bearings on my Carter type guides on my Powermatic 14" band saw. Should I go with sealed or shielded? I can get grade ABEC3 on EBAY. Is that good enough for the speed of the blade?For your application, I would try Fastenal, and get sealed bearings. They are dirt cheap, and in the environment you are using them they are consumables. I put some from VBX on my Delta 14" (thrust bearings) about ten years ago. Since then I have sawed out about 7000 (7K) wooden cars or Toys for Tots.

[Curt Harms]

I put on sealed bearings from a bearings and drives place. They weren't that expensive, may have been $1 a piece more than the shielded. I know some people use roller blade bearings that are like $1 per bearing on ebay. There's a place in Toledo that has 8 size 608 bearings for $8 with free shipping. They appear to be sealed, ebay # 370841481449.

[CPeter James]

Well, I decided to go with shielded bearings because of the higher turning resistance of sealed. I get my bearings from USA Bearings and Belts in Florida. They are cheap enough and easy to change in this application that if they don't last too long, it is not a problem.

Thanks for the input.

CPeter

[Gus Dundon]

Less friction with shielded. But dust build up might be an issue.