cleaning up bearings, and slop in bushing, 10 in home craft bandsaw

[cody michael]

I bought this little 10 in homecraft bandsaw for occasional use in my garage (I have bigger saw in woodshop) the top wheel did not spin well so I wanted to clean up the needle bearing, I took the wheel off and there is some black hard gunk around the shaft and on the bearings, I am assuming really old dried grease/oil. I have a few questions.

top wheel

1. how can I clean the bearings? can I clean them in the wheel? if not how do I get them out?

2. the upper wheel shaft is hollow, with a push ball type thing at the end, it is full of grease and gunk and the push ball doesn't seat right (to far into the shaft) is there anyway to clean the gunk out of the inside of the shaft, I cleaned some out with a small wire, any particular cleaner that will dissolve the gunk and not hurt anything?

bottom wheel
has a bronze bushing, doesn't look like it has excessive wear, but has a decent amount of slop, I can push wheel up and down and it moves at least 1/16 of an inch, it seem to work fine, runs smooth etc. is this normal? will it hurt anything to run as is? the bushings are no longer available.

the push ball oiler on the bottom wheel is in the frame casting. it is gunked up on inside with same thick grease, it won't allow me to get oil in, how should I clean this? should I try and remove the bronze bushings?

[Shawn Pixley]

Soak the bearings in solvent or degreaser after using brush to remove as much crud as possible. Unless there is too much slop, I would start by trying to avoid removing the bearings and bushings. If there is a lot of slop, remove them and replace.

[cody michael]

How do I tell if the slop is to much or acceptable

[Ronald Blue]

Those are needle bearings and they either run on a hardened shaft or an inner race/sleeve. Shawn's suggestion to use a degreaser is spot on. Actually brake clean works well for this but make sure ventilation is good. Spray and rotate as you work the old grease out. They appear fine and unless you observe flat spots they shouldn't need replaced. When mounted on the shaft the wheel will have only a small amount of slop. A few thousandths will be normal. After cleaning pus a light bearing grease back in to replace what you removed. If you should need to replace them they will have to be driven or pressed out. The bearing number is usually stamped in the end in small characters. From what I can see in the photos they look fine.

[cody michael]

Those are needle bearings and they either run on a hardened shaft or an inner race/sleeve. Shawn's suggestion to use a degreaser is spot on. Actually brake clean works well for this but make sure ventilation is good. Spray and rotate as you work the old grease out. They appear fine and unless you observe flat spots they shouldn't need replaced. When mounted on the shaft the wheel will have only a small amount of slop. A few thousandths will be normal. After cleaning pus a light bearing grease back in to replace what you removed. If you should need to replace them they will have to be driven or pressed out. The bearing number is usually stamped in the end in small characters. From what I can see in the photos they look fine.

Ok, i have brake cleaner. The needle bearings don't have much slop, it's the lower wheel, with bronze bushing that has slop, is that acceptable?

[Ellery Becnel]

On the bottom wheel, it should be .002 clearance. If you can move it 1/16", it's done. Measure the od of the shaft and the id of the bushing, with a dial caliper. Check it in a few places, shaft and bushing. Whatever is worn will not wear evenly.
Just like the bearings, the bushings will have to be pressed out. New ones will have to be fabricated, or purchased and pressed in. A machine shop can do this, but it will cost a little. Just giving you some options, and things to check. If you change
the bearings, change the bushings. Bad bushings will destroy new bearings. Let us know how things progress.

Ellery Becnel

[cody michael]

On the bottom wheel, it should be .002 clearance. If you can move it 1/16", it's done. Measure the od of the shaft and the id of the bushing, with a dial caliper. Check it in a few places, shaft and bushing. Whatever is worn will not wear evenly.
Just like the bearings, the bushings will have to be pressed out. New ones will have to be fabricated, or purchased and pressed in. A machine shop can do this, but it will cost a little. Just giving you some options, and things to check. If you change
the bearings, change the bushings. Bad bushings will destroy new bearings. Let us know how things progress.

Ellery Becnel

I will check the slop again, if the bushing on bottom wheel is sloppy will that damage anything? It will see very light use...

Could the bronze bushings be replaced with bearings?

[Ellery Becnel]

It could prematurely cause the bearings to fail, depending how worn out it is.
Side load on the bearings.
If the wheel bore is machined to accept a bearing, it can.
I do not know how much you want to invest in the saw. it might not cost
much, depending on the machine shop hourly rate.

[cody michael]

It could prematurely cause the bearings to fail, depending how worn out it is.
Side load on the bearings.
If the wheel bore is machined to accept a bearing, it can.
I do not know how much you want to invest in the saw. it might not cost
much, depending on the machine shop hourly rate.

I don't want to spend much, I only paid 50$ for the saw. don't plan on paying to much more to get it running, I will clean it up and get it back together and see how much slop there is.

[cody michael]

The front tip of the lower bushing is unevenly wore. The top (where the shaft presses when blade tensioned) is hollowed out. It is 25 thousandths over the size of the shaft. Is that a deal breaker? If I lube it up and use it occasionally (say 1 hr or less a month) will it harm anything? Ever? In a few years? Decades?

[Ronald Blue]

.025 is a lot of slop. Do you have the dimensions? You can buy standard pre-made bushings. McMaster Carr is one source. mcmaster.com/#bronze-sleeve-bearings/=10cvzw1 Usually they use standard dimensions for O.D. and I.D. I hope that helps. As Ellery said they will also be a press or drive fit. I don't know what there length is or the length through the bore of the wheel. For that much wear I would hazard a guess it has had little or no maintenance over it's life. Is the shaft showing much wear? Hopefully the bushings took most or all of the wear which is the reason for the steel/bronze combination.

[Simon Dupay]

That's a very nice little saw, head over to OWWM.org their should be a ton of info and advice on stuff like this

[Ellery Becnel]

Just getting off of working nights. I am not a big fan of bronze/brass bushings in a radial application. They work better in a linear minimal movement setup.
Bearings are more supportive, less friction, less HP requirement.
I think you have enough info to decide which way you can proceed with your rebuild. Either way, it will be an improvement to what you have know.
It is a nice looking saw. $50.00 is a good start. It allows you to upgrade without investing over the value of the machine. And you have a very reliable
machine that will make woodworking a joy!
Good luck, let us know how it works out.

Ellery Becnel