Delta Belt Sander

Used the belt sander for the first time today to sharpen a small chisel. What a difference from using the bench grinder. No comparison on how easy it was to get a flat, sharp edge on the chisel compared to using the bench grinder.
 
Wait until you compare grinding tool bits on a belt sander vs a bench grinder. It is quite a revelation.
 
You are so correct about grinding tool bits. Much easier.

The small idler wheel on the upright has a noisy bearing. Not bad but it is noisy. Is there any way to get some lubricant into the bearing?

I took the wheel off today and cleaned everything off the outside. The sander must have been used a lot on wood because the wheel was covered with oily caked on sawdust. After cleaning I laid the wheel on it's side and put some AW46 that I am using on my lathe on the side of the bearing. Let it sit for awhile while I worked on other stuff. Could not tell if any soaked in. It sounds a little better after the cleaning.

Any suggestions other than making making a new wheel. The current wheel is plastic and will probably break if I try to replace the bearing.
 
The bearing is probably shielded, possibly sealed. Here is a video on how to get those seals off so you can lube the bearing:

I should think any bearing grease would work.

As for the wheel, no, I don't know what to do about the wheel other than to make a new one or buy a replacement. Maybe someone else has ideas?
 
I have to confess that when it comes to small idler wheels for things like this I've repurposed caster wheels normally used on the bottoms of machines. Get one with a reasonably flat profile (slight curve will center the belt (chuck it up in the 4-jaw and clock it concentric. Then bore to fit a bearing and press/Loctite it in on-centre.

Cheap and cheerrful, and a good way to reuse the odd caster you might have picked up in a box lot at a boot sale, or even new thewy're inexpensive compared to buying new lengths of large-diameter plastic.
 
Since this thread just got a like thought I would update on the noisy bearing. The plastic seal came right off no problem. Packed it up with grease and the seal went back into place. The bearing is still a little noisy but no where near like it was.
 
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