Benchmaster spindle/bearing advice requested

Smudgemo

Smudgemo

Active User
H-M Supporter Gold Member
Good evening, all.

I'm spiffing up the little Benchmaster horizontal I recently picked up, and I'm at the point where I could use some advice regarding the spindle and bearings. The rear bearing is off, but the front is not.

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I tapped the spindle out which obviously removed the rear bearing, and as there seemed no other way to do it, I hope I didn't cause myself any problems. So the excess grease has been removed, but here it sits. Do I do the solvent cleaning thing to remove all of the old grease? Do I bother to remove the front bearing? I'd like to dunk the spindle in Evapo-rust to make the front look spiffy, but I sorta worry about having the bearing in place.

What about the seals? I imagine I can simply put it back together, but if something is available and it's a good idea, I might as well put in new ones while I'm in there and it's apart. The bearings seem to be fine. What is a suitable grease to use for reassembly? Anything I'm missing?

Thanks for any input.

-Ryan

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Now that you have it apart you need to replace the bearings and seals. They can't be that expensive. Chances are the old ones will fail if you re-install the old ones. I would check with Bearings, Inc in Chicago, they sell at wholesale prices to the public. http://www.bearingsinc.net/ I also recommend Mobil Grease #32 and you can buy it from MSC. It's not that expensive, I would never use wheel bearing grease from a local auto store. Many new machine builders use this grease. I have been using it and its predecessor #28.
Take care when you remove the seals so you put them back in the right direction. When you pack the bearings only use enough to fill the cavity 1/3 to 1/2 full. Take some more pictures of that assembly before you take it apart.

I would press off the old bearing, clean and stone the shaft and press on the new bearing or use a bearing heater if you have one. I would not recommend you use a brass punch or pin punch. I always replace the retainer star lock washer and nut if they are messed up.

If you need anymore help please ask.
 
Thank you, Richard. Replacement of the bearings seems like a reasonable way to go, but the more I think about it, the more I'm inclined to take the spindle to a bearing place locally and have the replacements installed for me. The rest of the reassembly would be simple. I'll check w/ Bearings if the place here in Oakland that I found can't help me. The grease information was just what I was looking for, thank you.

Best,
Ryan
 
www.vxb.com is an economy source for roller and ball bearings. That company has always given me good service. Timken roller bearings offer the races separate from the races. The other suggestions are excellent. There are different classifications as to the runout and tolerances for bearings. You don't need the super high grade, but be wary of the cheaper economy grade. I recently had to replace the ball bearings in the 2HP electric motor on my Asian lathe. The motor had shielded ball races, I have not seen anything but sealed bearings on a modern motor since the 1950s! Needless to say, I replaced the shielded bearings with the equivalent sealed units. I purchased the "electric motor grade" bearings (so called OEM style). The replacement bearings are SKF made in Argentina.
Geoff
 
Thank you for the info.

Richard, please give me a quick explanation of (or a link to an explanation of) stoning the shaft. My replacement bearings showed up today, but I haven't removed the large one from the spindle yet. I have to locate someone in the Berkeley or Walnut Creek area that can remove it unless there is a suitable garage method available.

Another couple of questions regarding installation,
1. I've seen it mentioned using a lightbulb as a bearing heater. Suitable assuming tolerances are proper?
2. The smaller rear bearing is pressed on when the spindle is in place (in the tube with the machined races that I don't know the proper name for.) As such, it must either be greased before installation or only greased from the back. Suggestions?

I can attach photos if anyone needs to see what this unit looks like to answer the questions.

Thank you.
-Ryan
 
shawn said:
I would like to see any photos you have Ryan. I have a horizontal Benchmaster as well and the day may come when I need to replace the bearings?

Cheers
Shawn
Click to expand...

I'll try to get something more detailed in photos posted this weekend. It's pretty straight-forward so far. I'm not well versed in bearings, and I just want to ensure I don't damage anything in the process of fixing this mill up.

-Ryan
 
Sorry I missed this post for a few days. Here is the name of a friend of mine in Berkeley. He goes by the initials of his name DH. He is the host of my CA. Scraping classes and a very good Blacksmith and machine repairman.
His Email is d_mayeron@hotmail.com>

Give him a shout and I am sure he can help you. I don't think a light bulb will work to "hot" .
 
Thanks Richard, I'll contact him straight away. Maybe I'll be able to get this rig back together and working next weekend.

-Ryan
 
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