Quality - Frantz® Manufacturing

Frantz® Manufacturing is one of the leading producers of balls, bearings and precision bearing products. Frantz has a reputation of engineering groundbreaking solutions and delivering quality products. Frantz Sterling® Steel Ball is proudly registered to ISO-9001:2000 and ISO/TS-16949:2002 All steel ball product is put through rigorous testing to assure it meets exact specifications and our own high quality standards. You know this, if you're already a Frantz customer. If not, take time now to familiarize yourself with the complete line of quality steel ball products from Frantz Manufacturing.
Selected ABMA Definitions
Lot: A specified number of balls taken as a unit. Balls in a lot are manufactured under uniform conditions and have basically identical characteristics.		Surface Roughness: Irregularities on the surface of balls having height, width and direction.		Grade: The guaranteed roundness of a ball identified in millionths of an inch. The grade designation is based on a combination of tolerances including dimension, form and surface roughness.
Hardness: The ball surface's ability to withstand penetration by a specific indenting shape.		Corrosion: Cracks, pits and rust on the surface of balls when examined visually without magnification.		Nominal Ball Diameter: The value used to make a general identification of a ball size. For example, a 1/8-inch ball.
For Your Information
Packaging Capabilities Various packaging options are available: 50lb. and 100 lb. cartons, 14 gallon fiber drum, 55 gallon steel drum, 11 lb. plastic bags, and others to fit your needs.		Storage Guidelines Regardless of the package you choose, remember to keep it sealed and stored in a dry area until balls are ready for use.		Lead Times Most steel ball products are ready for immediate delivery. Call us to discuss your specific needs.
A few examples of equipment in our quality and testing department.

Metallograph (reflected light microscope) Balls are embedded in a suitable mounting medium, sectioned, ground, polished and etched. The metallograph is used to examine and evaluate the internal microstructure of the ball.	Grinder/Polisher Balls are embedded in a suitable mounting medium and then cut in half. The Grinder/Polisher is used to create a mirror-like surface on the flat surface of the sectioned ball so that it can be examined with the metallograph.		Automatic head for Grinder/Polisher This machine mounts on the Grinder/Polisher and allows unattended grinding and polishing of the metallographic mount.		Microhardness Tester This machine is used to make a precision indentation in a highly-polished, flat, metal surface, and then measure that indentation. The size of the indentation is directly related to the hardness of the metal at the location of the indentation. By making a series of indentations from ball surface to core, numerical values can be assigned to surface hardness, core hardness and effective case depth.