Abstract: A shaft mounting apparatus includes, in a preferred embodiment, in addition to a bearing, a ring mounted between the shaft and a conical support surface which is concentric to the shaft. The ring has a conical surface configured to cooperate with the conical support surface and resilient means apply an axial force to the ring to maintain the two conical surfaces in engagement. The ring thereby adds additional stiffening to the shaft thus shifting the resonant frequency of the shaft to a frequency above the frequency range at which the shaft is excited during operation.