Pacamor Kubar Bearings (PKB)

Pacamor Kubar Bearings, known as PKB, makes miniature and specialty ball bearings. It builds them at its facility in Upstate New York. The company is a veteran-owned small business. It makes bearings for private, commercial and military uses.

All of the bearings PKB makes are miniatures. The about page says they go up to a 1.125 inch outer diameter. The largest metric size it can produce is 28.57 mm. The company says it makes every bearing in-house. It uses only DFARS-compliant material, which meets US defense purchasing rules.

The product range has several styles. Straight-style radial bearings are one group. Others have outer ring flanges, which help with positioning and mounting. Some use filling notches or an angular contact design. These hold more balls and raise the load rating. Angular contact bearings can take high radial and axial loads at high speed. They also come in duplex sets. Thin-section bearings, called Thinex, suit tight spaces that need low friction and high accuracy.

PKB also offers choices in retainers, closure types and ball options. It can build modified bearings with non-standard bores, outside diameters, widths and inner shapes. Customers can look at a standard catalog, a line card and a capabilities document on the website.

The bearings go into aerospace and defense systems. The company lists space vehicles, satellites, gyroscopes, guidance systems, drones, avionics instruments and flow control units. It says its bearings have supported the James Webb Space Telescope and the MARS2020 rover. It also names weapons optics and guided missiles.

PKB makes cryogenic bearings. These work with very cold liquids such as LIN, LOX, LAR and LH2. Such liquids need special bearing materials and design care, which PKB says it provides. For aircraft, the company supplies original and replacement miniature bearings for commercial, private and military aircraft.

PKB holds ISO 9001:2015 and AS9100D certification. Its quality team includes an in-house Designated Manufacturing Inspection Representative. This person helps move FAA-certified aircraft bearing shipments forward. The website also links to a US and Canada joint certification, terms of sale and a contact form.