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RE: Ball Bearings
Hope you all don't mind one more suggestion. Richard Staron has givin good
advice about reducing hardness and could be used with this method if
necessary. Several have given good ideas as well. This method may help with
other problems as well.
Not everyone has a milling machine, but most probably have a decient drill
press. Buy an end mill as used in a milling machine and chuck it up in the
drill press. End mills cut on both the sides and the flat "end" surface of
the mill, they are not pointed on the end like drill bits. Put the ball
bearing in a vice and carefully center the ball under the mill. (This is
easier if one has one of those inexpensive cross vices.) Use a slow RPM on
the drill press and a slow spindle speed rate and it will put a flat bottom
hole in your bearing. Of course, this will work on other round surfaces as
well like drilling through or flating/squaring/slotting a side(s) of a round
shaft.
Drill presses and especially drill chucks aren't made to do milling so you
obviously don't want to take heavy cuts with mills in drill presses, nor do
a "lot" of "lighter work" this way. If you wanted a really smooth long cut
you probably won't get it this way either. But it will get you through on
those seldom occasions when dealing with round stock.
Hope this may help someone.
Don Kemper