Cam Follower Bearings
Stud-type cam followers in stainless steel: the CFS3, CFS4 and CFS5, a bearing and a mounting stud in one part, built to run on cams and tracks.
Cam follower bearings · CFS3 / CFS4 / CFS5 · stainless steel
A bearing that mounts like a bolt
A cam follower is a roller bearing with its own mounting: a thick outer ring that runs on a cam or track, rolling elements inside, and a stud that bolts the part to the machine frame. That construction is why followers are specified separately from the needle family they sit under — the buyer is ordering a mounted track roller, not a bearing to be housed. The line here is stainless steel, in the CFS3, CFS4 and CFS5 models, which places it in the duties where tracks live outdoors, in washdown, or in food and packaging machinery.
| Model | Line position |
|---|---|
| CFS3 | Smallest of the three CFS models |
| CFS4 | Middle of the CFS line |
| CFS5 | Largest of the three CFS models |
Track condition is part of the specification
A follower's outer ring is a wheel, and a wheel's life is set by what it runs on. The specification should therefore carry the track as well as the follower: the track material and hardness in general terms, whether the run is flat, curved or cam-profiled, and whether the contact is continuous or intermittent. Stainless construction answers corrosion on the follower itself; it does not answer a soft or abrasive track, and saying what the track is lets that conversation happen at the inquiry rather than at the first replacement.
Followers, track rollers and guide rollers
Three lines in this range run on tracks, and they divide by mounting. The stud-mounted follower comes first. The U-groove track rollers and guide rollers are wheel-form parts mounted by axle, stud or bracket, grooved or flat. The LFR U-groove line inside the needle family is the bearing-form track roller, ordered by its LFR code. If the part bolts through its own stud and follows a cam profile, it belongs with the followers; if it is a wheel on a rail or a door track, it belongs with the wheels.
Specifying a cam follower
State the CFS model, the quantity, and the track description. Followers are often ordered as a machine set — every follower position on one machine in one line — and if that is the case, say so and list the positions; a matched set ordered together stays together through packing. Where the follower replaces an existing part, the stud thread and the outer diameter from the old part confirm the model choice, so include them when you have them.
Followers wear at the outer ring, so repeat orders usually come back for the same model in the same track conditions. Keep the track material and the load case with the original order record: a follower that lasted well in one track is the baseline the next order should be checked against, not a fresh selection.
Send an inquiry
Give the CFS model and the track description for each cam follower on your list, with quantities and the destination market, and send it through the inquiry form.