Bad Bearings

[patrick reif]

I've poured, painted, baked, tied and now am assembling my spinnerbaits. Love the process, and the finished product so far.

I ordered 50 of the X-turn bearings I bought off of E-Bay. They were advertised as being as good as Sampo and Worth...not convinced after a little real water time , but I have them for a minor investment and they do work.

I've had a couple that needed to be designated for burning the bait, and most are good for slow rolling. I've found two(out of 20+/-) that needed to be thrown away because they only turned about twice with a #5 willow leaf and a light tap of my fingernail.

There was a notable tick within the revolution of the blade most witnessed in the connection point of the wire frame and the first split ring. Something internal with the bearing was grabbing or scrubbing.

The two part question;A) can I soak a bearing in reel butter oil to have it help the bearing perform better( gut says no because it's really mechanical flaws )

B: what percentage of bad bearings is considered acceptable before a different manufacturer is needed?

I think both Sampo and Worth are the best, but I can't justify the cost on my budget with the number of baits I'll actually fish....it's just my reality

Edited May 4, 2013 by patrick reif

[smalljaw]

There isn't anything you can do to fix the problem, if you could use some sort of penetrating oil or something like that then I would think there would be many more using them. The swivels you hear or feel clicking will all fail, I know as I went through the same thing about 10 years ago when I was looking for a cheaper swivel. The reality you face is either save up enough to get 100 Worth swivels from Barlows with if you buy the swivels and the split rings seperate will cost you 64 dollars with the shipping or use the imported ones that are going to fail. I understand your dilemma, I was there and as I said, I tried Cabelas, BPS, and countless other imported bearing that had good prices and every single one would fail at some point plus out of 100 I would get about 8 to 12 bad ones that were bad right out of the box. I'd say as long as they are for yourself then fish them until fail and then replace but if you are going to sell any well make sure you use a good swivel as it only takes 1 complaint about bad components to get around and that will be the end of that.

[patrick reif]

This is one of my first attempts. I really like making these. I'll probably need to pony up with the real money to get better bearings.

Thanks.

Edited May 5, 2013 by patrick reif

[smalljaw]

Those are really nice, did you pour the heads or buy them? I can say I was going to get a hidden weight mold from Shawn Collins but I changed my mind after fishing them as it didn't work for me the way I use a spinnerbait and because of the cost I figure if I am not going to use them then it isn't worth it to me. I will admit they do look really nice and if you make a nice bait like that you may as well go all the way and put a good swivel on it, I've been where you are at and I never look back as the Worth are far superior to anything else except for sampo and I believe they are just as good if not better and at a better price.

[patrick reif]

I bought the mold off e-bay straight from Shawn   I only fish a spinner bait two ways;burned or slow rolled. I'm predominantly a river smallmouth guy, and they ain't too picky most days. LOL

[Guest Gangel]

I'm almost certain that Worth doesn't make their swivels anymore... I'm going to look more into it.  Which makes me wonder who is making them for them.

[Iamsam]

I purchased several worth ballbearing swivels directly from worth last year and the fine split rings to go with them. I put the split rings on the swivels myself and if im not mistaken the cost come out to be less than. 30 cents each.

[smalljaw]

I purchased several worth ballbearing swivels directly from worth last year and the fine split rings to go with them. I put the split rings on the swivels myself and if im not mistaken the cost come out to be less than. 30 cents each.

 

I do the same but you have to buy 1000 minimum and with the shipping and excise tax it cost $320 to your door, that is if you buy 1000 swivels and 2000 split rings. Worth still makes their own swivels, it is why they cost a little more and have a higher quality.

[smallmouthaholic]

Worth ball bearings swivels are the real deal.Being a manufacturer,i do not have the time to assemble rings on ball bearings.I purchase them directly from Worth w/ the 2 spit rings assembled.on the ball bearing swivel.

 

That said, I believe Barlow's sells smaller quantities of Worth B.B. swivels for the home hobbyist.Really-how many spinner baits do you need in a year to worry about the cost of quality ,American made ball bearing swivels? The b.b. swivel is the heartbeat of any spinner bait.

[Iamsam]

Very strange Smalljaw last year I only ordered 200 ball bearing swivels and 400 of the fine split rings with shipping and all I think It come out to around .30 per swivel.

[smalljaw]

Very strange Smalljaw last year I only ordered 200 ball bearing swivels and 400 of the fine split rings with shipping and all I think It come out to around .30 per swivel.

 

The only place I know that sells them in that quantity is Barlows and LPO, Barlows is less expensive if you buy everything seperate like you said but it still comes to 54 cents per swivel, LPO is 67 cents per swivel and the way I buy from Worth is 32 cents per swivel. Would you be so kind as to tell me where you are getting yours at that price?

 

EDIT: I didn't see the post above. So tell me how you ordered under 1000 swivels directly from Worth? I'm assuming you have a tax I.D. number since they didn't charge you the 10% excise tax but I'm more interested in how you got less that 1000. When I first started doing business with them they sent me a printed catalog and at that time I had a tax I.D. number as they wouldn't sell direct to someone without that and you had to order a minimum but now they dropped the requirement with the only difference is I have to pay the excise tax up front but I still need to order 1000 at a time.

Edited May 12, 2013 by smalljaw

[edgecrusher]

I do the same but you have to buy 1000 minimum and with the shipping and excise tax it cost $320 to your door, that is if you buy 1000 swivels and 2000 split rings. Worth still makes their own swivels, it is why they cost a little more and have a higher quality.

 

The only place I know that sells them in that quantity is Barlows and LPO, Barlows is less expensive if you buy everything seperate like you said but it still comes to 54 cents per swivel, LPO is 67 cents per swivel and the way I buy from Worth is 32 cents per swivel. Would you be so kind as to tell me where you are getting yours at that price?

 

EDIT: I didn't see the post above. So tell me how you ordered under 1000 swivels directly from Worth? I'm assuming you have a tax I.D. number since they didn't charge you the 10% excise tax but I'm more interested in how you got less that 1000. When I first started doing business with them they sent me a printed catalog and at that time I had a tax I.D. number as they wouldn't sell direct to someone without that and you had to order a minimum but now they dropped the requirement with the only difference is I have to pay the excise tax up front but I still need to order 1000 at a time.

 

They sell to me at any quantity as well. I am outside the US so that avoids the excise issue, but my  first order with them was 150 swivels and 300 rings, they will still charge you the same rate as they charge for 1000, just ask em! I find worth to be very very professional and easy to deal with, I have only one issue with them, and that simply is that the range of finishes isn't as wide as say Lakelands. I'd love them to have gold, Silver and Black Nickel, they do gold, but its only for that 1000 minimum.

As I said they'll see any amount, they've sold 150 swivels to me, and in seperate transactions sold smaller amounts of blades (say 10 different blades in lots of 30)

[Guest Gangel]

^{I'm only a mile down the road from Worth, and any day I happen to drive by there, I keep thinking I gotta get in there/develop a relationship with someone who works there.  I think I'm missing out on some potential there.}