Sliding Table Bearing Noise

[Chris Tsutsui]

So this is just a nuisance and not a functional problem, but I have a brand spanking new Hammer K3 sliding tablesaw. The sliding table bearings are a bit loud, and there's even a random rattling noise like the sound of a baby rattle with one bean inside shaking when you slide the table.

Of course you can't hear this with the saw on, but I had the liberty of using the exact same saw at a trade show, and the sliding table was super quiet.

I talked to a rep already who had me clean the bearing rails with denatured alcohol so no factory grease is on there. I did this several times, but it didn't help. Should I clean the big ball bearings in the cage as well or leave them be?

The rep also told me to adjust the width of the rail using the long row of adjustment bolts and I played around with this for an hour. The wider I make the rail, the more resistance is added to the sliding table, but the noise pretty much stayed the same. I even used a good mitutoyo caliper to make the bottom rail exactly the same width to thousands of an inch accuracy. I can achieve no play at all in the slider and the entire table moves with little effort with my pinky, thus functionally it's fine.

It's just that bearing noise that sounds like when you degrease a normal ball bearing and then put in a couple grains of sand in it...

Should I use a thick bearing grease or no grease for the bearings?

Thanks

[Jeff Duncan]

Can't help you except to say any mods you make....like re-greasing the bearings, should be in line with what Hammer recommends. I'm not sure how accommodating Hammer will be if you end up with a bigger problem resulting from advice you got online. It's a new saw, if it were me I'd work with them to resolve the issue. That's not to say you won't get some good advice here.....but, well, it's a new saw!

good luck,
jeffD

[Chris Tsutsui]

I went through the manual with a fine tooth comb, and talked to one of the "austrian" techs and was told that there should be absolutely no grease on the rails.

What puzzles me is there was a factory coating of grease on the rails and bearings and if you just clean the rails, then there's still grease on the bearings.

The principle of the mechanics is simple. A long row of maybe 1/2" or smaller ball bearings between two horizontal "V" shaped channels on each side fo the guide rail. The bearings have 4 points of contact.

It seems to me like grease would quiet the bearings for I know it makes regular bearings quiet. I just don't want to mess anything up of course.

[David Kumm]

Chris, there should be little or no noise and lack of grease is not the problem. I have several types of sliders and what you have sounds like one or more faulty bearings. Talk to John Rensetti or Brian Lamb over at Felder owners group and they will either know the answer or give you the right guy at felder. I know they have recommended a certain person in the past and I can get the info if you can't. I think the hammer system is similar to the old pre X roll felder like I have on my F7 shaper. After 12 years it is still quiet. Dave

[Chris Tsutsui]

Just as an update, I'm working with Felder to resolve the issue for they have very fast customer service.

[David Kumm]

chris, Post that message over on FOG and get their reaction. I'm not a hammer fan but keep my mouth shut. Similar to Grizzly and others, when a machine is built to a lower price point it is hit and miss on quality. Some are great, some are not. Felder should replace the lower assembly, even if you agree to pay the shipping it will be worth it to your peace of mind. What you are experiencing is not normal. Keep working the FOG group and good luck. Dave

[Mike Konobeck]

They are a bunch of good folks. I worked with Mark out of the Delaware servive center when setting up an A3-31 and the 731 Pro and he was very good. Spent a lot of time with me on the phone with no sense of frustration even though I am sure I was asking some pretty dumb questions.

I have an older (2001) Felder 731 Pro and the bearings don't rattle but they don't sound the smoothest either. Could be the years of use and previous owner neglect (no disrespect given the situation) but I have wondered if I should take the slider apart and clean it up. While the two sliders are likely very different animals I was wondering if they advised for you to take apart the slider. Given your picture above it appears they did. If they did, was it a bear? I finally have it cutting very precise after about a year of tinkering and dread having to take the slider off to have to adjust everything again.

[C Scott McDonald]

What is the picture showing?

[Chris Fournier]

Just as an update, I'm working with Felder to resolve the issue for they have very fast customer service.

"this is not a Felder system..."

When I was looking at a Felder 700 series and the SCM 410 Elite S I always giggled about the above Felder line. Ball bearings are so stone age! I'm sure that you'll get your slider working just right. I like teflon and graphite dry lube in this application.

[Charlton Wang]

Chris did you ever get this resolved? What was the problem?