As a retired mechanical engineer, I've learned a helluva lot about all kinds of bearings. The first thing I learned was that there's much to learn about them! Until I watched some KZfaq videos on their manufacture *after* retiring, I often wondered how they were made. This video is the best I've seen! Note that this video features a bicycle hub for example. I've invented & prototyped three different hub-based Continuously Variable Transmissions for bikes, each of which uses bearings in novel ways to achieve the continuously variable feature. We so often take for granted the importance of bearings until we imagine our technological world without them.

You'll notice in the video here that after lapping, the balls are air-dropped on to one another. I was told that Timken does NOT air drop their balls after lapping because the impact between the very hard surfaces damages them, causing microscopic dents. Consequently, Timken drops them into an oil bath so the impact with other balls is kept to a minimum.

I never thought I would spend 14 minutes watching how steel balls were made, but I'm glad I did. This is an amazing insight into the manufacturing process. The videography is superb. When I saw the subtitle " flashing",. I expected to see a guy in a dirty mac appear. Hats off to to the guys who invented the machines to do, these precise tasks. It is worth noting, however, that it still takes a human to but the balls in a box.. Well done on this very informative video.

The mechanical engineer coming out with this idea of manufacturing is indeed a true talent.

Incredible technology for such a simple thing that we take for granted.

Fascinating! I was replacing the bearings in my bicycle wheels when I wondered how they actually made something so precise, strong, consistent and in massive quantities. Now I know. Thanks!

I learned how to rebuild the rear ball bearings on my bike and wondered how they were made. Now I know; thanks for a great video!

I am just as impressed with the soundtrack for this video as I am with watching the process of the steel. . . . .upbeat, new age futuristic digital tones. Thanks for this video.

I was involved in making tooling for ball bearings years ago. One of thousands of jobs our little header die shop did. The dies with the half spheres have carbide inserts that are pressed under high pressure in the die block. As these inserts wear they can be recut and ground to be used over again. The working surfaces are lapped and ground to a mirror like finish. The grinder used 2 different grits of wheels to get to the finish required on just the face of the die. I used 12" diamond wheels on the surface grinder. It was quite an involved process to make the tooling and the more precise the tooling the less work was needed for the secondary processes (grinding and lapping). It would be fun to see the processes used to make the tooling ....just another job at our shop but most have no idea what it takes to do it.

Thank you folks for making this video! It's something I've always wanted to know, especially the "centerless grinding/lapping" they do to make them so perfect and mirror-like.

”Hard, strong, steel balls are required.” Ain’t that true about life.

We take these for granted way too much. They're everywhere making so many things possible.

I guess the people who downvoted were thinking "the making of steel balls" was going to tell them something other than about the making of steel balls.

This is a very good video. The full speed and then slo-mo to stills is very easy to follow. I always wondered how they made those critters!

One of the most interesting and informative 'How it's Done' videos I have seen - and there are some good ones!

A channel like this could've saved both me and my dad a lot of headache. Lol, I was a curious child, with so many questions...so many questions and I won't even get into my 'taking things apart' phase. Again, so many questions. Thanks for posting.

Fascinating and something I’ve wanted to know for an age. Amazing how such a small and innocuous thing, that most of us never see, makes the world go round and why it was such an important factory target to put out of action during WWII. Without them nothing would work!!!!

Great video !!! No talking , to the point, great pics. Hope you people are making more educational vids; you got it together.

Back in the eighties and nineties, I worked as a machine setter/operator, for an engineering company called Sileby Engineering. We used similar cold-forming machines made by a company called Malmedie. We made valve spring retainers and sump plugs for the automotive industry. This is a trip down memory lane to see these machines working.

6:54 "Hard, strong steel balls are required", here's a life lesson.

That music wasn't added, it's actually playing in the factory.

This is actually extremely complicated engineering. Engineers never get the credit they deserve

It's amazing how people came together to design and manufacture these machines to make the final product. I thank you and my bicycle thanks you.

I think factory tours are fascinating. The footage and graphics here are very informative. Thank you!

Amazing how much work goes into making a simple ball. Which itself is just a small component of even larger, more complicated machines. Human ingenuity is incredible.

I really appreciate the perfectionism of the whole process. Thank You!

Fascinating and entertaining. Additionally, never have I seen a video with so many unintentional double entendres! 😂

Arigato, Gyro..

1:49 "Steel balls are made from wire rod called 'steel'" :D You have to love Japanese to English translation bloopers.

Love this machinery it is amazing considering the number of material balls in many materials the world utilizes each day. We just love to watch and learn all of these great maker techniques. Thank you for sharing this. Lance & Patrick.

Excellent and comprehensible. The slow-motion and graphics are a great help. Nicely done!

The making of ball bearings. Something that everyone single one of us takes for granted. Who knew that there are so many fascinating steps involved into the making of something so basic, that our modern lives would be so much harder, if not down-right impossible without these little marvels.

In this video I learned that you have to have hard, and shiny balls that are almost perfectly spherical to get through the pressures of life.

I WANTED TO KNOW THIS PROCESS SINCE MANY, MANY YEARS AGO. FABULOUS. MANY, MANY THANKS.

These marvels of precision and mass production make our world possible. Thank you for showing me how they are made 👍👍👍

I literally haven't watched the video and just came here straight for the comments when I saw the Tittle of the video. Gold. Carry on everyone.

Very well done, some quirkiness, charming. Now I can make my own ball bearings.

Finally, an English version!

It's midnight on a Saturday night and I just watched a 14 minute video on the making of ball bearings. Yup.

The most informative steel ball manufacturing video I've seen yet.

this series is so facinating. I am learning so much about the world and how products i use are actually made. Gives me a better understanding and respect for them Would of loved it if they showed us things like this in elementary school. A different product each day. So by 6th we had a basic understanding of how hundreds of thousands of products are produced. To help us better understand are world and store bought items. Bet a lot of kids would find a facination for something they are interested in far earlier on and as such be able to learn more on it at an earlier age and give them a leg up on their future knowing what they love before they go into the work force.

"They are called 'raw balls'" Ah yes, bringing back memories of my late teens...

Thank you for the very educational video. I'm glad KZfaq put it in my recommended list. Beautiful use of technology to make an essential component of our modern society.

This is something I wondered about many, many times and now I know. Finally, a very good teaching video on youtube.

Thanks, the high quality video and animation. Really helped it make sense to me. Look forward to seeing more of your videos.

This is a great video. It's explains the process perfectly and it's very well made.

Imagine opening that box at the end upside down or something with that unsealed folded bag... That would make a long day at the shop

That was great, thankyou. I've always wondered how they are made so perfectly. Excellent video.

great video.... love the 80's "corporate video" synth music.

The marble machine X is looking great Martin, keep up the good work.

Something so small, is so important. It's very precise! Makes our world go round! Fascinating!!

Love the Soundtrack. ....Great Production....mixing and mastering....Kudos.

This is a very interesting video for me as the factory in Japan used to be my customer and we sold the NATIONAL MACHINERY Ball Headers plus the monitoring equipment there. I have spent quite some time there about 30 years ago.

Fantastic! Learned something new today. Never thought about how the balls are made before much. thanks

So satisfying to watch the balls of steel go from slices of cable to shiny little perfect spheres. Thanks jstsciencechannel, nice video

So interesting, thank you. I hope to see more translated videos in the future for more people to enjoy. While I would love to learn Japanese, I don't have the time.

Thanks for posting. I always have been curious about how they were made.

AWESOME DEMONSTRATION OF MANUFACTURING ; BRAVO ! 💥🔥😬🌈

The Making of Steel Balls should really be its own episodic TV series. This was only enough steel ball making to whet my appetite.

One rare video with a nice music . Everything is fine. Wonderful !

Thank you! Learned something new.

Daam, imagine being that quality control lady....? Staring at little steel balls all day long can probably drive you nutso!

Rod, lubricant, balls, heading, flashing, grinding, lapping.. The subtitles are inuendo treasure lmao

I hope there will be more English videos like this. Great job!

Lovely Japanese neo-industrial smooth synth pop-jazz or whatever it is. Also the content is great!

this was better than HOW IT'S MADE , there were good graphics added to this video to explain the processes going on

They are SOOOOOOOO cute! It's nice to see how they are made!

This was fascinating. I'd love to see more of these in English.

A key element in the progression of precision in manufacturing has been the ball bearing.

Those little balls can withstand 35 tons of pressure. That's a loaded 18-wheeler!

Mesmerizing, A quarter hour went by in a flash.

Excellent video. Thoroughly understood the various steps in Manufacturing the Steel Balls, Thanks for the efforts

Love the background music in most Japanese documentary, every intense and professional. Especially the diagram and cartoon, help to explain things better than "How it's made"

Great video of everyday things we most often take for granted to our detriment. Next time i look at my balls, i will do so with ever so much more appreciation!

Very, very interesting. Thanks a lot for the video. Colin UK 🇬🇧

interesting..and amazing what goes into the production of these. The chemistry of heating and cooling in oil to make the molecules more uniform and rigid was interesting

I once played Quake while having an audio CD with classical music (Bach, to be specific) in the CD-ROM drive. I was amazed at how well it fit the game.

I always wondered how - thank you for sharing!

I guess I lead a sad life as I’ve always wondered how these are made. Thanks for taking the time and effort to show me.

I've often wondered how this was done. Thank you for posting.

"Thank you, Gyro..."

*I LOVE the adorable and funny sounds* Japanese TV shows add to even serious videos. The reason why those sounds are so popular there is because Japan is the country of computer games, many of which were invented there in the first place along with the corresponding cute sounds.

Thanks for a very interesting vid! There is much-more to this process than I realized.

Omg wow this is how steel balls are made. Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful video🙏❤

Brilliant music.

Well that kept me riveted to watching to the end. Very interesting I must say.

Great video on a very common much used and needed object; thanks!

At 77 and a retired engineer I'm still learning .

Very good production value!

Informative and full of innuendo! The scientist and the child in me have been well entertained :D

I'm now a (semi!) retired electrical/automation engineer. I've seen all these types of machines in action. I tried not to hang around too long. Even with ear protection, a ball bearing factory is EXTREMELY NOISY !

This video was perfect, loved it!

Great video!

One of the ways the allies crippled the Nazi war machine during WWII was by targeting ball bearing factories with strategic bombing. A small component critical to the operation of complex machinery.

Best video on this process I've ever seen ....thanks

Now I would like to see how they make the precision tooling used in ball bearing manufacture.

I must be a huge nerd, but I dont care in the least. Enjoyed this video. Keep them coming!

How interesting. I always wondered how this balls are made and how resistent they are: 35 tons! Incredible!

Well done 👏, you did a great job in relaying the information with details with info graphic. 👏

this is so awesome! thank you for this video! the music was great too..