follw-up on pacific bearings was Re: shafting question

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@y..., ballendo@y... wrote:
<snip>
> One claimed advantage of the pacific bearings is that they DONT
> (according TO pacific) increase their "clearance"(slop) as quickly
as
> some other type of plane bearings (such as sintered bronze;
commonly
> called "oilite"). This, in my experience with these bearings,
appears
> to be true.
<snip>

In my many hours of browsing the coveted McMaster catalog, I've
wondered about a few things:

1. While obviously not suitable for serious machines, unsupported
shafting and sintered bronze bearings has got to be the cheapest way
to build a small machine. Anyone tried this?

2. Why in the world are the drilled shafts and their supports orders
of magnitude more expensive???

- Tom S.