A comprehensive overview of the standard bearings types, their design characteristics and their suitability for the demands placed on a given application can be found in the matrix.Detailed information on the individual bearings types, including their characteristics and the available designs, can be found in the sections dealing with individual bearing types. Bearing types that are not included in the matrix are generally only used for a few well-defined applications.

The matrix permits only a relatively superficial classification of bearings types. The limited number of symbols does not allow an exact differentiation and some properties do not depend solely on bearing design. For example, the stiffness of an arrangement incorporating angular contact ball bearings or tapered roller bearings also depends on the applied preload and the operating speed which is influenced by the precision of the bearing and its associated components as well as by the cage design. In spite of its limitations, the matrix should enable an appropriate choice of fag bearing type to be made. It should also be considered that the total cost of a bearing arrangement and inventory considerations could also influence the final choice.

Other important criteria to be observed when designing a bearing arrangement including load carrying capacity and life, friction, permissible speeds, bearing internal clearance or preload, lubrication and sealing are dealt with in depth in separate sections of this catalogue.The single row radial deep groove ball bearing is NMB's most widely produced ball bearing. In addition to open radial ball bearings, NMB also offers bearings with shields or seals. Shielded or sealed bearings provide a protective boundary from excess grease and other efficiency-compromising substances. Snap ring and flange type bearings provide improved housing fits. NMB also makes available, ultra thin type radial ball bearings.

With ball bearings you also have different types of ball bearings. You'll notice here, this koyo bearing is quite small. It's a little bit thinner and on the axle itself compared to this one, you can see the diameter over itself is pretty small. So there's different sizes. Sometimes the larger they are, the easier it is to keep them spinning longer 'cause they make a wider gap, it won't grab the string quite as fast and you'll really get some good spin time out of it. When it comes down to it though, small versus large bearing, it doesn't make the hugest difference in the world, I won't freak out if you have a small bearing yo-yo and I don't think that you need a large bearing yo-yo for things to work. The next step from a regular bearing is something called a concave bearing.

And if you zoom-in on this bearing, you can actually see it's got a little groove in it if you compare it to this one. Because of that little groove, the string can actually sit right down into that bearing and what that allows you to do is it allows the string to sit there and it won't get caught by the edge of the yo-yo quite as well and it also centers it so when you're doing tricks on the string, the yo-yo moves to one side or the other. It's not going to as quickly grab the edge of the yo-yo. It's going to be centered there. It allows you to do tricks at much longer time, allows everything to keep smooth and what not. So those are your basic [bearings types] . You can also get different ABEC ratings, there's ABEC five and seven just kinda like skateboards. There's even ceramic bearings. Ceramic bearings spin for an incredibly long time, it's not incredibly needed though. If you just get your basic ball bearing with your yo-yo, it should be enough and with a little lube and cleaning which we're going to be talking about in the next segment, you can make it play as good as it needs to be.