Thrust bearing - is it compete as is?

[Mark Gibney]

I'm not at all sure this thrust bearing is complete as it is.
The pictures show the upper blade guide along with the thrust bearing. This is what came with this band saw, a 1980s 32" Centauro re-saw band saw.

480068

This next photo shows how this pieces were fitted together

480069 480070 480071

The bearing stem was simply fitted into the cast housing and the rear of the housing was packed with grease, and the threaded cap was screwed in place.

I cannot figure out how or if this allows for any adjustment in the positioning of the bearing. Also, it seems the bearing stem just spins against the bore in the cast housing.

This band saw was not in working order when I got it. I don't know if something is missing or not, and google turns up nothing.

Hopefully someone out there can tell me what's going on!
thank, Mark

[Ron Selzer]

the threaded cap gets packed full of grease, then turned every so often to force grease between the shaft and the housing
can't help on the rest
Ron

[Mark Gibney]

Thanks Ron, have you worked with a similar set-up?

I should add that the thrust bearing shows no sign of wear, and the blade wore a couple of grooves in the housing, so the previous owners had it set up incorrectly.

[Ron Selzer]

that grease cap has been around for a long time on rotating equipment. Learned about them on the farm growing up, feed mill as a teenager working afternoons and Saturdays and still run across them occasionally on older equipment
Ron

[Wes Grass]

Never seen a guide like this, so ....

My guess is there are wheels or blocks attached to the bosses with tapped holes at the front. And the entire assembly gets rotated clockwise to bring the guides together, which also swings the thrust disc behind the blade.

Won't be surprised if I'm completely wrong though.

[Ronald Blue]

On that the grease cap is probably fine. We learned the hard way on rail equipment they have their short comings. We used spring loaded greasers on axle bearings. Only problem is grease separates and the remaining "mass" doesn't flow. After multiple bearing failures and determining the cause we then had a push removing every one of them. They aren't the answer everywhere but here it would be easy to monitor and maintain.

[Rick Potter]

Back in the old days I got a used 1950's Sears 12" bandsaw which had a thrust bearing with a flat face like that. It was well worn with grooves from the backside of the blade. The grooves were so bad that I replaced the flat face part with a cut down intake valve from a Briggs and Stratton lawn mower. The shaft fit just right. There was no grease fitting at all, and I think I just oiled the shaft now and then.

The rubber tire was also gone, and I wrapped the wheel with a couple layers of friction tape. No idea what I was doing, except doing what I could afford. Worked fine though.

That was back in 1966 when our as is, totally trashed, $13,000 house was slowly being decorated in early Salvation Army, hand me downs, and used carpet.

[Mark Gibney]

"Early Salvation Army" - love that!

I think I'm understanding the basics, but something eludes me - how do I set the distance of the thrust disc from the back of the blade?
Is it by screwing the cap at the back to push (or retreat) the grease against the end of the shaft and thus move the disc?

[Rick Potter]

Certainly no expert here, but when I had that flat steel thrust surface mentioned above, I simply set it slightly behind the blade, and it didn't touch until pressure was put on the blade. Memory fading.

[Mark Gibney]

Thanks Rick. I give it a shot.

[Tom Bender]

Hi Mark
From the nice paint job on those parts I'm guessing that you could show us pictures of a nice looking saw.

[Mark Gibney]

In a few weeks for sure Tom.

[Erik Loza]

Looks like the predecessor to the Carter “Zefyr”s, which many Italian manufacturers used on and off over the years. In for pics of the whole beast!

Erik