Hard Grease In Cam Follower

[hman]

im curious as to what these are for, how they are used, application...

A year or so ago I restored a pretty old 4x6 bandsaw - brand name KTS (but not Kalamazoo). It used cam followers for the saw guides.

I could have replaced the "straight" ones, but two were on eccentric shafts, and absolutely un-findable. Fortunately, they cleaned up nicely with a soak in WD-40. Checking carefully, and looking at some documentation on similar followers, I learned that there was a cross-hole deep inside the hexagonal recess in the face. Forcing grease into this recess would get it to the needle rollers. The photo shows a Grainger cam follower. Note the tapered end of the hex recess. I fabricated a conical fitting for the grease gun, to take advantage of this feature. The drawing (from Misumi) shows two possible locations for the hex recess, as well as the cross hole.

 

[4GSR]

.......snip........ The drawing (from Misumi) shows two possible locations for the hex recess, as well as the cross hole. View attachment 115947 View attachment 115948

This option is only available on the larger cam rollers. I've played with some of the larger ones, 3" and 4" OD back in time that were set up as shown in the picture.

 

[hman]

I think the option is available in some smaller ones, too. May depend on supplier. The ones on the bandsaw were 22mm OD, 10mm shank, something like 5mm across the hex socket flats. Misumi doesn't seem to offer the cross hole lube option on cam followers less than 30mm. The VXB KR22 cam follower does have the cross hole. As I mentioned, I had real trouble finding ones with eccentric shafts, so I just re-used the originals (which were still in great condition).