Rega tonearms using plastic bearings

Take a look at Well Tempered Labs tonearm and read about their version of a bearing...

Mijostyn

I am trying  to figure out how  crank shaft bearings , mains or rod, have anything to do with plastic tone arm bearings.  Automotive  crank bearings are designed  to take a pounding  and high rpm. They are made of various metals and are running in a oil bath to maintain  a certain tolerance  and lubrication.  A tone arm never does even  1 rpm  or takes any pounding.  There is no real weight so you have gone  from  one extreme  to another. 

This whole tolerance  thing is easy to measure and talk about but in the reality of a tone arm  how  realvent  is it.  Now in vibration  control  we may have a whole different  ball game.  But there is not  a  consensus  on what should be done here, even by experts.  

The only issue I would be concerned  with  would be long term wear in the small area of movement.   Ok maybe  long term stability  of plastic just exposed  to a indoor  environment. 

The sad reality  is  there is no one size fits all in audio.  This plastic bearing  could work great in various tonearm or not.  So we are back to build it try various  bearings and listen.  Then you at least know in that arm and system YOU like one over another.  Or maybe  no difference at all.

Enjoy the ride
Tom

There are some seriously tough plastics out there that are self lubricating and make excellent bearings. People may not realize this but simple, plain bearings like you find in an automotive crank shafts are far more durable than ball bearings. You would not use plastic in an engine due to the heat but in a tonearm no problem. 

Nothing surprises me any more.

POM and its variants make strong and long-lasting bearings.

Plastic?  Sounds ludicrous but here's an interesting article from 2017 that confirms it:
https://www.eurekamagazine.co.uk/design-engineering-features/technology/in-pursuit-of-perfect-balanc...

I was just surprised that work and hobby intersected.
I am a Maintenance Tech for a welding fabrication manufacturer in the O & G market.
Not often do my suppliers have anything to do with audio. Although I once got a screaming deal on 2 Jelco tonearms from a salesman;)
thanks for the replies

Two companies using Si3N4 (Silicon Nitride) ball bearings in their arms are Audiomods and Helius Designs, both UK firms. Helius designer/maker Geoffrey Owen is familiar with Si3NR balls bearings, as they are used in the telescopes installed in the Space Shuttle, a project he was involved in (his other job is that of a rocker scientist ;-).

Dear @dronepunk : It depends the quality and kind of plastic you can use either for TT bearing or for tonearm pivot bearings. In both cases it needs extreme tigth tolerances and accuracy levels.

Not many years ago ceramic was used for tonearm bearings even its fragility and maybe higher resonances than plastic. So we can't know for sure if plastic can help down there.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.