A solid cage is cut from a single ring — brass, steel or light alloy — with pockets milled for each roller. It is the strongest and heaviest cage available, and it is standard on large spherical, cylindrical and tapered roller bearings where a stamped cage would deform under its own weight and under the loads involved.
In a 300 mm spherical roller bearing the cage has to span a large diameter and carry its own mass plus the guide forces from 30 or 40 rollers. A stamped cage at that size flexes, the pockets lose alignment and the rollers skew. A solid cage holds its geometry, which is why it is the default above a certain size rather than an option.
A solid brass cage in a large bearing can weigh several kilograms. In slow machines that is irrelevant. In a fast one it becomes a centrifugal load that the cage has to carry, which is why high-speed large bearings sometimes use machined light-alloy or phenolic cages instead.
| Construction | Machined from a solid ring |
|---|---|
| Materials | Brass, steel, sometimes light alloy |
| Typical sizes | Above roughly 200 mm bore |
| Strength | Highest of all cage types |
| Weight | Highest — matters at speed |
| Temperature | 250 °C for brass, higher for steel |
| Cost | High |
| Typical use | Spherical, cylindrical and tapered roller bearings, heavy duty |
| Bore range | Typical cage | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Under 30 mm | Crown or snapped polyamide | Cheap, light, adequate |
| 30–120 mm | Stamped steel (J) or polyamide | Balance of cost and speed |
| 120–200 mm | Riveted steel, or machined brass | Strength at diameter |
| Above 200 mm | Solid machined brass or steel | Geometry must be held |
| High speed, any size | Machined brass or phenolic | Balance and oil retention |
The default — cheap, strong, temperature-safe
Read →Machined brass — the high-end standard
Read →PA66 — quiet and cheap, 120 °C limit
Read →Resin-bonded fabric — highest speed
Read →Two stamped halves joined by rivets
Read →One-piece snap-over retainer
Read →Normally above about 200 mm bore, and on heavy-duty spherical and cylindrical roller bearings. It is part of the standard design, not a separate suffix.
No. If the cage is damaged the bearing is replaced. Some large bearings allow a cage replacement at the maker's works, not in the field.
It reduces the achievable speed because of its mass, not its strength. For high speed at large size, a lighter machined material is used.
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