Pressing in Arbor Bearings - old Walker Turner contractors saw

[jamie shard]

Since OWWM.org is down, I figured I'd post here. Hopefully some folks will be able to point me in the right direction. This should be a fairly standard question for someone who knows how to press in bearings... (Hmm, strange the return key doesn't work.) Here's the parts list for the saw and the image of the arbor. It seems like the blade-side bearing bearing would be pressed onto the axel, then the sleeve put in place, then the second bearing pressed on, and then the whole assembly pressed in place. Is that correct or is it done in a different order? In case it's not obvious, I'm still learning how to install bearings. Thanks for any help! -jamie 272194272193

[Benjamin Miller]

That's correct. The bearings will have an interference fit on the shaft and must be pressed into place on it first. Make sure you're pressing on the INNER race or you'll destroy the bearings. A deep well socket of the appropriate size works well, and you can use an arbor press, a drill press quill, or a hydraulic press.

After both bearings and the spacer have been installed, the assembly should have a tight slip fit into the trunnion. You will probably be able to do this by hand or with some soft blows of a deadblow hammer. The looser fit here is to allow for thermal expansion -- "the fixed part rotates, and the rotating part is fixed."

[Matt Day]

You can also put the arbor in the freezer overnight which will make the metal shrink ever so slightly and allow the bearing to go on easier. When I did mine, all that was needed was to put the bearing over a dog hole and a light strike with a rubber mallet on the arbor.

[jamie shard]

After both bearings and the spacer have been installed, the assembly should have a tight slip fit into the trunnion. Thanks for confirming that both bearings and the spacer get installed first. It seemed to make some sense given the shape of the spacer and the lack of "well" on the pulley side for the bearing to seat. But that was my biggest question since I've never seen a construction like that (usually it seems like one bearing goes on the shaft, the other goes into a well on the pulley side of the arbor, and shaft gets pressed into the pulley side bearing, at least that's what this guy does: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVHu2PqeGlI)

[David Kumm]

If you do much bearing work a heater is worth it's weight in gold. Dave

[jamie shard]

Well, I got them in. I used the lightbulb/freezer trick for the bearings/shaft, respectively. Going into the saw arm was totally different, there wasn't much slip fit at all. I wound up using the low viscosity green thread lock to hold them in place. Everything seems rock solid with no slop, so I'm hoping the rest of the restore and tune-up will do it justice. Thanks again Benjamin, Matt, and Dave.