Bearing Replacement.?

Re: Bearing Replacement.?

I did it on my JET Mini, but it was several years ago. I can say that I bought them from McMaster-Carr and I upgraded to a higher grade of bearing. Might be something here in the articles, maybe even something I wrote up, though I don't recall.

McMaster-Carr has nice docs on the stuff they sell. So if you search on bearings, you will get a selection, but you should be able to narrow it down to the type you need and be able to find ones suitable...and likely better than what was in there before. I suspect the process is not different for your Rockwell than it would be for the JET or any other lathe.

Sorry I can't be more specific. If I come across the instructions I used, I'll update. But it was at least 15 years ago.

Re: Bearing Replacement.?

Yesterday  I  picked up the bearings and later in the day  put the shaft in our freezer. Going to start the reassembly process today.

Re: Bearing Replacement.?

In the machine shop we put the parts for shrink fit in a pan of alcohol with a chunk of dry ice.

Re: Bearing Replacement.?

Not sure. Certainly several of the links the Forum posts were relating to my having to change out the bearings.

I will say I do remember that it is not good to use a metal hammer when trying to seat the bearings. I think I remember using a wooden dowel and a clamp to apply pressure and squeeze the bearings into place.

Oh, and consider having a pan ready when removing the old ones as the beads within the (possibly previously) sealed bearings may spill out. Or a magnet to collect them otherwise.

Hope I'm helping a little.

Re: Bearing Replacement.?

With respect to the Articles link, I guess this isn't the first time I've recommended McMaster-Carr. I do like the information they lay out about the products, even if you are just buying steel rod. They'll give you a good overview of the different steels you can get.

Re: Bearing Replacement.?

Works quite well using a drill press and a 1" dowel drilled to match the spindle diameter.