 Welcome back MechanicalEI, did you know that pedestal bearings are widely used for providing support to a rotating shaft, whereas footstep bearings are used to support the lower end of heavy vertical shafts? This makes us wonder, what are pedestal and footstep bearings? Before we jump in, check out the previous part of this series to learn about what conventions in bearings are. Now, a pedestal bearing is also called a plumber block. It consists of three main parts, a pedestal, bushesaw steps made in two halves and finally a cap. The cap, by means of two square headed bolts, holds the halves of the steps together. These steps are provided with collars on either side in order to prevent its axial movement. The snug in the bottom step, which fits into the corresponding hole in the body, prevents the rotation of the steps along with the shaft. This type of bearing can be placed anywhere along the shaft length to enable rotary freedom throughout the axis of shaft. A footstep bearing, on the other hand, consists of a cast iron block into which a bush consisting of a collar at the top is fitted. The shaft rests on a pad. The pad is prevented from rotating by a pin, inserted half inside the block and half in the pad and away from the centre. The collar of the bush is made hollow to serve as an oil sump for lubrication of the bearing. Since it is subjected to heavy thrust loads along the axis of the shaft and operates without clearance between the conjugate parts, an adequate supply of oil to the rubbing surfaces is extremely important for footstep bearings. Unlike pedestal bearing, a footstep bearing can only be placed along the bottom of the shaft. Hence, we first saw what pedestal bearings are and then went on to see what footstep bearings are.