Vesconite self-lubricating bearings and bushings

• High loads must be carried with small clearances
• Conditions are dirty
• Greasing is irregular or not possible
• The application is moist, corrosive or under water
• Abrasive wear is a problem
• Lubricant and grease cannot be allowed to contaminate the product or pollute the environment
• Regular lubrication is impractical or inconvenient
• You want to reduce lubrication
• Long bush and pin life is required
• The bearing runs underwater or in liquids
• Chemical attack is a problem
• Cost savings are desired

Not only do VESCONITE bushes generally last much longer, but the life of  mating shafts and pins is often greatly extended.

VESCONITE has gained international recognition as a versatile, high performance replacement for traditional materials in anti-friction and wear applications

VESCONITE's initial cost is moderate and gives excellent savings over its installed life cycle.  It is stocked in a wide range of shapes and sizes. VESCONITE is easily machined to fine tolerances on standard metal working equipment.  The factory also offers a special service for the production of custom components

Vesconite parts include bushes, thrust washers, guides, wear pads, wear strips, slides, light duty gears and many other components subject to wear and friction.

The main properties which make VESCONITE an outstanding bearing material are: 

Wear resistance
VESCONITE provides outstanding wear resistance, resulting in many times longer service life when compared with bronze.  It is also less affected by poor lubrication and dirty conditions.

High load bearing strength
VESCONITE has very low creep rates and is suited to design loadings up to 30 MPa (4275 psi). It has a much higher load capacity than nylon, and its compressive strength and clearances are not affected by water absorption.

Dimensional stability
VESCONITE does not swell when exposed to water or humid conditions, while nylon can swell up to 3% linearly when immersed.

The thermal expansion factor of VESCONITE is only 2.5 times  that of bronze, while nylon and HDPE are 5 to 10 times greater respectively.

VESCONITE therefore needs only slightly more clearance than the corresponding metal parts. No allowance needs to be made for moisture changes in most applications.

Low friction
VESCONITE has outstanding dynamic friction, with a friction coefficient of less than half bronze or nylon.  This allows for higher combinations of loads and speeds.

Greasing of VESCONITE bushes on assembly further decreases friction, allowing higher speeds to be used and generally improving performance.

Water is an excellent lubricant for VESCONITE, making VESCONITE ideal for many immersed applications.

VESCONITE HILUBE  offers even further reduced friction (down by 50%), making it an ideal material for unlubricated applications. 

Temperature limits
VESCONITE's melting point of 260ºC (500ºF) is one of the highest among thermoplastic materials.

VESCONITE is suitable for continuous use at 100ºC (212ºF). For higher temperature applications, submit an enquiry form.

The low thermal conductivity of VESCONITE, common to all synthetic materials, means that frictional heat is removed only slowly through the bush.

PV Limits
One should avoid extreme heat build-up by first checking the PV (load x speed) when designing a replacement for a bronze bush operating at a high PV factor.

The PV limit of VESCONITE is about twice as high as that of nylon and higher than most synthetic bearing materials.

Longer life of metal counterparts
The wear of metal pins and shafts is reduced by up to 90% when VESCONITE bushes are used. Thus the high cost of replacing expensive shafts and pins can often be saved. This valuable benefit alone justifies the change over to VESCONITE in many applications.

Chemical resistance
VESCONITE is very resistant to dilute acids, organic solvents, oils and petroleum.  It has limited resistance to strong acids and alkalis. Lengthy immersion in boiling water should be avoided.  See the Vesconite Chemical Resistance Chart for details.

Easy to machine
Vesconite machines easily on wood working and metal working equipment, such as lathes, milling machines, bandsaws, drilling machines, planers, spindle moulders and routers.

It is far easier to machine than bronze, steel, nylon, acetal, UHMWPE or polyurethane based products.

Stock sizes
The VESCONITE stock range includes hundreds of sizes of machineable rods, bushings, plates, finished bushes, discs, washers and ready to use parts. For the full range, see our Stock Range listings.

The Vesconite range includes:

Rods
From 8 to 165 mm diameter (0.32" to 6.5"). 

Bushings
We have an incredibly wide range of bushing stock (tube) suitable for the smallest shafts up to 650 mm (26") diameter. Standard lengths are 1000 mm long (39.4").  Special lengths may be ordered. 

Plates and Discs
Plates are mainly available in standard sizes 1000 mm long x 200 mm wide (39.4" x 7.9") from 3 to 50 mm thick (0.12" to 1.97"), as well as specially machined strips and sections.

Discs are produced in diameters from 200 to 500 mm (7.9" to 19.7") and in thicknesses ranging from 3 to 12 mm (0.12" to 0.5"). 

Ready-to-use parts
These include over 100 sizes of ready-to-use bushes in both metric and imperial (American) sizes, while standard tooling allows production of many more sizes of plain and flanged bushes from 3 mm to 650 mm inside diameter (0.1" to 26") and washers up to 600 mm diameter (23.6").

Custom Components
Special factory services include:

• Moulding and machining of custom components to your drawings and specifications, including extrusion and injection moulding, turning, milling, drilling, thicknessing, cutting and joining.
• We offer a "One Stop" application development service, assisting you with the development and testing of initial prototypes to the mass production of proven parts.
• We can economically produce small quantities of custom components using our specialised machining workshops, an extensive stock of semi-finished materials and a wide range of injection moulds and extrusion dies.
• Our workshop can reline very large wear parts with VESCONITE strips. This saves the original expensive phosphor bronze component and makes it better than new.
• New parts can also be produced from cheaper metals and lined with VESCONITE.
• For new and difficult applications, if the quantities required justify the development, we can research special formulations and materials, building on our on-going technical developments.

Vesconite at work
Over the years customers have successfully used Vesconite in thousands of applications, saving themselves money, time and greasing. Here are some typical applications. Use our Enquiry Form for technical advice on your application. Perhaps we have experience of a similar application. Help is just a click away.

Heavy transport (trailers, buses, etc)
Bogie, trunnion and pivot bushes, thrust washers, bushes for leaf spring shackles, air brake cams, steering, kingpins. 

Earth moving equipment
Articulating dump truck bushes, front end loader arm bushes, idler wheel bushes in tracked vehicles, pivot points, road grader bushes.
See our Earth Moving Applications

Pneumatics and Hydraulics
Piston neck ring bushes, varied wearing and guide parts, clevis pin bushes. 

Mining
Loco motor axle bushes, steam loco side rod bushes, raise borer column guides, winch bearings and thrust rings, rotary filter components, sheave wheel bushes, hopper car bushes, mill. 
See our Mining Applications

Marine
Rudder bearings, cutless bearings, propeller shaft bushes, sheave bushes, water pump piston rings, dredgers.

Railways
Bogie and braking system bushes, tram and battery locomotive motor axle bushes, centre guides, doorway guides, pantograph bushes, signal sheave wheel bushes, switch gear bushes.

Irrigation
Bushes for sluice gates and rollers, water meters, rollers. 

Agriculture
Bushes for rotary sprinklers, disc ploughs, tractor king pins, lawn mower wheels, refurbishment of Monosem planters.
See our Agriculture Applications

Paper Industry
Repulper bearings

Steel Industry 

Tyre Industry
Rubber masticating mill bushes.

Textile Industry
Bushes for loom parts of all types, frame link guides. 

Bottling Plants
 

Abattoirs
Overhead roller bushes.

Lifts
Guide shoes and blocks. 

Rotary Air Motors and Vacuum Exhausters
Vanes and blades in a wide range of sizes for rotary air motors and exhausters.

Vanes
Petrol pump vanes. 

Conveying
Conveyor roller bushes, screw conveyor hanger bushes, wear strips and guides.

Materials Handling
Wheel bushes, castor wheel bearings, pallet trucks, scissor lifts, fork lift components. 

Concrete/Brick Industry
Foot step bearing and disc pads, brick making machine  bushes. 

Forklifts

Pumps and valves
Plunger pump neck rings, protection plates of multi-stage centrifugal pumps, steady bearings, wear plates, bushes in vertical spindle pumps, butterfly valve spindle bushes.
Order your own Pump Bearing Design Manual

Roller chain

Escalators