Method for producing shaft member for hydrodynamic bearing apparatus

A method for producing a shaft member for a hydrodynamic bearing apparatus, said method comprising:

• forming a shaft material which integrally has a shaft portion with a first end and a second end, and a flange portion located at the first end of the shaft portion by a forging process, the shaft portion having an end face facing in a first direction along a longitudinal axis of the shaft material at the second end of the shaft portion, and the flange portion having an end face facing in a second direction, opposite to the first direction, along the longitudinal axis of the shaft material at an end of the flange portion;
• grinding, by a grinding process, both the end face of the shaft portion and the end face of the flange portion of the shaft material formed by the forging process;
• and
• forming, by another grinding process, first and second radial bearing surfaces at two positions separate from one another along the longitudinal axis of the shaft material and a slanting recess portion between the first and second radial bearing surfaces that has a diameter that is smaller than a diameter of both the first and second radial bearing surfaces on an outer circumference of the shaft portion of the shaft material formed by the forging process,
• wherein the grinding of the end face of the shaft portion and the grinding of the end face of the flange portion in the grinding process are performed by using a pair of grind stones having parallel end faces, the parallel end faces facing each other, and are performed concurrently by traversing the shaft material between the parallel end faces of the pair of grind stones from an outer diameter edge toward an inside diameter edge of the parallel end faces, while the grind stones rotate and the shaft material is retained by a carrier, thereby the end face of the shaft portion and the end face of the flange portion are ground by the parallel end faces of the pair of grind stones, and are finished to have a flat shape without projection,
• wherein the grinding of the end face of the shaft portion and the grinding of the end face of the flange portion are performed before the grinding of the slanting recess portion and the grinding of the first and second radial bearing surfaces, and
• wherein the grinding of the slanting recess portion and the grinding of the first and second radial bearing surfaces in the another grinding process are performed concurrently using the ground end face of the shaft portion and the ground end face of the flange portion as reference planes.