A bearing is made up of an outer ring and an inner ring. They encase a ball cage, which contains balls.

The inner ring spins independent of the outer ring.

When assembling a turbine, the bearing is pressed onto a spindle. The spindle is inserted through the inner ring hole. After assembly, you should be able to hold the spindle and rotate the outer ring of the bearing.

Never apply pressure onto the outer ring of the bearing or you may distort the ball cage and ruin the bearing. Bearings should always be assembled using a bearing block. Never attempt to press a bearing onto a spindle using your hands.

Here you see a bearing correctly seated into the bearing block in preparation for assembly.

click photos to enlarge

Bearing Blocks

A bearing block is designed to support the bearing during assembly. It has custom-fitted borings to receive specific bearings.

This shows how spindles should be assembled onto bearings. The spindle is placed over the inner ring hole of the bearing, then pressed through the hole using an Arbor Press. Below is a picture of a spindle/bearing assembly.