Not sure how far off topic I'm allowed to go -- this isn't technically woodworking, but it seemed like the right crowd for the question, and it could apply to DIY WW machinery. Admin's please delete if I'm straying too far.
I have a 1940's vintage hay bale elevator that uses bearings that have a curved outer race, held trapped between two sheet metal flanges. The shaft is 3/4", OD is 1.850". Sam Mulkey Co was the manufacturer, long gone. Just had a bearing go bad and found a replacement of the same size (John Deere part JD9217), but was a lot easier to find a 20 mm ID by 47 mm OD replacement. Since imperial bearings are getting harder to find (seems to me), wondering if there was a way to shim a 0.750" shaft out to 20 mm (0.7874"). I did some searching on the net and couldn't turn up anything. This is not a high speed application, this shaft is reduced twice from a 1725 rpm motor, probably turning around 150-200 rpm.
Thanks for any pointers.
Best,
Dave in northern MN