Bruce King
02-13-2010, 9:23 PM
I just finished up replacing all three arbor bearings in a North State 3hp 10 inch cabinet saw. The repair did not go real good due to the only info I could find on the web was based on unisaws which are different. I had to figure it out as I went along. These are awesome saws, the only ones around with three arbor bearings I think.
The saw is a 1992 model and I bought it around 1999. I didn't hear anything unusual from the bearings but decided they had to be on their last leg and I was in the mood to do some much needed maintenance on the saw anyway. The bearings were dried up but did not feel too bad once the belts were removed. With the new bearings it runs a lot quieter now. It eliminated a moderate high pitch whine that I had just thought was normal all this time. Many saws come with shielded bearings and they just dry up over time. Even the sealed ones do not last forever. I put sealed ones in place of the shielded since they are only slightly more. A nickel will stand on edge even during start/run/stop phases on this saw. I have it screwed to two 6x6's (for extra height) and shims under the 6x6's to prevent any rocking action.
I will post some good info and tips soon with pictures. I have some special tools now to make the job easier and to prevent stressing the new bearings during assembly.
Just in case anyone needs to know the main snags before I can write up the entire process...... here they are......
There is a hidden snap ring next to the arbor pulley that must come out before you can hammer the arbor out. You really should remove the table and the entire arbor bracket in order to do this job. The metric allen set screw in the arbor pulley has another one under it. The factory did not drive the arbor in all the way so the blade will end up about 1/8 to the right unless you plan ahead for this.
The saw is a 1992 model and I bought it around 1999. I didn't hear anything unusual from the bearings but decided they had to be on their last leg and I was in the mood to do some much needed maintenance on the saw anyway. The bearings were dried up but did not feel too bad once the belts were removed. With the new bearings it runs a lot quieter now. It eliminated a moderate high pitch whine that I had just thought was normal all this time. Many saws come with shielded bearings and they just dry up over time. Even the sealed ones do not last forever. I put sealed ones in place of the shielded since they are only slightly more. A nickel will stand on edge even during start/run/stop phases on this saw. I have it screwed to two 6x6's (for extra height) and shims under the 6x6's to prevent any rocking action.
I will post some good info and tips soon with pictures. I have some special tools now to make the job easier and to prevent stressing the new bearings during assembly.
Just in case anyone needs to know the main snags before I can write up the entire process...... here they are......
There is a hidden snap ring next to the arbor pulley that must come out before you can hammer the arbor out. You really should remove the table and the entire arbor bracket in order to do this job. The metric allen set screw in the arbor pulley has another one under it. The factory did not drive the arbor in all the way so the blade will end up about 1/8 to the right unless you plan ahead for this.