11" Bandsaw upper wheel question

holygrass · Post by **holygrass** » Wed Aug 01, 2012 5:31 pm

Howdy,
I was wondering if the rod that the upper wheel bearing slides onto is supposed to slide in and out of the arms bearing? It takes a little bit of coercion, but I can pull the rod right out of the arm.

I was installing a new blade on my bandsaw and turning the wheels by hand to make sure everything was tracking right. All of the sudden I hear something scraping and I notice the upper wheel (and rod) was sliding towards me (causing the wheel to scrape against the guard).

Any help? Also, what should I buy to grease the upper bearing?

wa2crk · Post by **wa2crk** » Wed Aug 01, 2012 6:52 pm

The upper axle should NOT come out of the arm. As I recall they are a press fit. The upper wheel bearings can be lubed with a good quality wheel bearing grease. Don,t buy any grease. You should be able to coax some out of a friendly auto repair shop. A teaspoon full will do and probably last about ten years.

Bill V

holygrass · Post by **holygrass** » Wed Aug 01, 2012 10:20 pm

so, what should i do since the upper axle does come out of the arm?
glue it back maybe??

billmayo · Post by **billmayo** » Wed Aug 01, 2012 10:57 pm

holygrass wrote:so, what should i do since the upper axle does come out of the arm?
glue it back maybe??

A jackleg response. I grip the rod/axle with pliers and tap the jaws with a hammer while rotating the rod/axle to leave slight raised ridges on the shaft. Then I use permament LocTite (271) on the rod/axle and push/press into the hole. Do not hammer on the end of the rod/axle as it will expand the rod/axle end. Use a non-metal cushion on the end of the rod/axle when installing.

holygrass · Post by **holygrass** » Wed Aug 01, 2012 11:10 pm

billmayo wrote:A jackleg response. I grip the rod/axle with pliers and tap the jaws with a hammer while rotating the rod/axle to leave slight raised ridges on the shaft. Then I use permament LocTite (271) on the rod/axle and push/press into the hole. Do not hammer on the end of the rod/axle as it will expand the rod/axle end. Use a non-metal cushion on the end of the rod/axle when installing.

I'm not following you at all, unfortunately. Could you break it down a little simpler for me? Are you saying that you that you tap the jaws of the pliers, while the pliers are attached to the end of the rod/axle? Then glue the "marred" end of the rod/axle back in to the arm? Where exactly should the non-metal cushion go, between the wheel and the arm?
Thanks for you help!

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Wed Aug 01, 2012 11:34 pm

holygrass wrote:I'm not following you at all, unfortunately. Could you break it down a little simpler for me? Are you saying that you that you tap the jaws of the pliers, while the pliers are attached to the end of the rod/axle? Then glue the "marred" end of the rod/axle back in to the arm? Where exactly should the non-metal cushion go, between the wheel and the arm?
Thanks for you help!

Between the end of the shaft and the hammer. Backup the arm also to prevent bending that.

holygrass · Post by **holygrass** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 12:11 am

I was under the impression that I should take the rod/axle out of the arm to "mar" up the back end. Is this not correct?

billmayo · Post by **billmayo** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 2:36 am

holygrass wrote:I was under the impression that I should take the rod/axle out of the arm to "mar" up the back end. Is this not correct?

Yes. Also, you need to mark how far you want the axle to go into the arm so there is room left for the upper wheel, washer and retaining ring