should I replace my bearings, delta dl 40.

[cody michael]

I haven't turned anything yet, but I am replacing my belt, in order to get the belt off I had to remove one bearing, the outboard one, the inner one, I am not sure how to get it off. The lathe appears to have very little use, is that good or bad for the bearings? When I fired it up I didn't hear any noises etc. Only reason I'm considering this is because I already have 1 bearing out...


The lathe is approximately 20-25 years old.

The bearings are nachi 6207nsl if that helps. If I should replace them what is the best brand?

[Ron Rutter]

Cody. If it runs smooth why replace it. If it has a seal on one side only give it a bit of grease & re-install. I don't know what "nsl" stands for but a 6207 is a fair sized bearing and should stand up well. Could you not just loosen the set screws in the pulley & collars & move the shaft to access the belt?

[cody michael]

I a had to remove the one side to get the belt out, it is already out. I'm just trying to figure out if I should replace the bearings or leave them alone. Is axle grease, like what you use for bearings on a trailer what you use? They seems to spin smoothly, but don't glide, if you stop pushing they stop spinning, is that how they are supposed to be?

[Len Mullin]

Cody, there's a saying that I have no doubt you heard at one time or another, it goes something like this; If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I think that you should put your lathe back together, and to not look for problems that don't exist. Doing so, can get to be expensive.
Len

[Ron Rutter]

I assume they are sealed both sides. Seals will restrict them from spinning as will grease. If they move smoothly ( not bumpy ) they should be fine. That size wouldn't be cheap but if readily available it is your call. With your fingers in the bore the housing should turn smooth & easy. Axel grease it is! hope this helps. Ron.

[cody michael]

Ok, thanks for the input, i think I will leave them alone, they feel smooth to me, but I will double check tomorrow

[hu lowery]

I haven't turned anything yet, but I am replacing my belt, in order to get the belt off I had to remove one bearing, the outboard one, the inner one, I am not sure how to get it off. The lathe appears to have very little use, is that good or bad for the bearings? When I fired it up I didn't hear any noises etc. Only reason I'm considering this is because I already have 1 bearing out...


The lathe is approximately 20-25 years old.

The bearings are nachi 6207nsl if that helps. If I should replace them what is the best brand?

Cody,

I think you have arrived at the right conclusion, let sleeping dogs lay. No reason to change bearings probably. The grease in those old bearings may be a little stiff but will soften with heat when they start moving. Even if you have to replace the bearings it isn't that big a deal to tear down the lathe again after you have done it once. The sealed bearing you need looks like it is less than twenty dollars. From there you can spend as much as you want to. The Nachi bearings are made in japan and are decent bearings. Upgrading to better bearings runs into money fast for debatable benefit.

The link is just for reference. I bought bearings from these people once and had good service but I know nothing about them to speak of. you would be wanting the sealed bearings, not shielded. The seals do normally keep a bearing from spinning freely.

Hu

http://www.vxb.com/SRCH.html?Store_C...rch=nachi+6207

[M Toupin]

Ok, I'm going to take a different tack here...

Bearings are wear parts. Replace them, consider it preventative maintenance and move on.

Even if the bearings had very little use the bearings may be fine, but the lubricants are well past their shelf life. Grease is a combination of oils (the lubricant) and a waxy/soap carrier which thickens it. Once the oils evaporate (20 years or so whether in use or just sitting on a shelf) you're left with just the waxy soap which is not a lubricant. You can mess around and try to pry off the seals and clean them and re-grease but for $30-40 for a pair or less why bother?

Another consideration is if you had to use a puller or force to get the bearing off then was damage was unseen done? If you try and reuse the old bearings and it fails seizing on the shaft or worse then you're looking at several hundred $$ to machine a repair or replacement shaft, all to save $30-40 or less? I'm all for not wasting money, but for the piece of mind and knowing I won't have to mess with it for another 20 years is well worth it to me. YMMV

Mike

[Brian Myers]

I agree with Mike , just put new bearings now while you are messing around with the lathe and have things apart. This way you will be good to good for awhile.

[Ron Rutter]

A 6207 bearing is 35 x 72MM so not small. The outboard bearing that he removed is in a carrier so would not have been damaged. Very little chance of them heating & seizing at lathe speeds I would think. Should get noisy long before that.

[Doug Ladendorf]

I'm in the replace camp too for the reasons Mike mentioned. Any time I have to pull something apart that is more than 15 years old I will generally replace so I don't have to mess with it again. If you don't have the $40 right now then go with what you have until you have to replace. But if you can, standard procedure on a vintage machine is bearings and belts.

Doug

[Ronald Blue]

If you still have it apart then replace them. As others have said grease has a shelf life and since there is only a small amount in the bearing it can quickly lose the ability to lubricate the balls and track. I wouldn't have torn it down to replace bearings unless they were noisy or rough but you are already there so it's worth doing. That's a pretty easily obtainable bearing and I think Napa Auto parts likely carries it. I am certain that I used that number as a pilot bearing on a piece of equipment recently. I believe the one they had in stock was SKF. If you already put it together then don't sweat it. You know the bearing number so if you hear or feel roughness you can pick them up at that time. Good luck.

[Mike Hollingsworth]

Bearings are cheap. Change them while you're there. What's the downside?

[cody michael]

Bearings are cheap. Change them while you're there. What's the downside?

The only downside is the bearings towards the bed (right hand) is on the shaft and im.not sure how to get it off. I the shaft is inside the lathe and can't come out with the bearings being removed that I can see, the left hearing outboard side would be easy.

[Michael Harris Ohio]

Hi Cody, do you still have your DL-40 lathe and if so, how are your spindle bearings holding up? I am replacing belts and inspecting the bearings. Yesterday I figured out how to remove the seal on the inboard bearing and it was fairly dry but no metal shavings were present so I relubricated it and replaced the seal. Waiting on a spanner wrench delivery so I can pull the outboard bearing and upper drive belt. Thanks in advance for any info you can share. Mike