Thick-walled bearing shells can be cast. To improve friction performance, a layer of bearing alloy (called a bearing liner) can be cast onto the inner surface of the bearing shell. To ensure good adhesion between the bearing alloy and the bearing shell, various forms of tenons, grooves, or threads are often made on the inner surface of the bearing shell. Thin-walled bearing shells can be mass-produced using processes such as continuous rolling of bimetallic sheets.
Powder metallurgy involves mixing powdered iron or copper and other basic materials with graphite, then pressing and sintering them into shape. The pores can store lubricating oil, resulting in oil-impregnated bearings.
Bearing shell materials are usually relatively soft, and the inner cylindrical surface is not suitable for grinding. Boring, diamond boring, scraping, or lapping methods can be used. When lapping, the method of matching the shaft diameter should not be used; instead, a specially made lapping bar with the same dimensions as the bearing shell bore should be used. Scraping is mostly used for partial bearing shells, using a wide-bladed scraper. When scraping by hand, the scraping marks should be shallow. For bearing bushes with complex inner surface shapes, special boring methods should be used according to the specific shape.