Roller Bearings that don't roll anymore

[Wood Borer]

The bottom roller bearing guides of my bandsaw keep seizing up but the top ones are OK.

My bandsaw is a 14 inch Taiwanese model bought from Carba-Tec and the guides were bought afterwards from Carba-Tec.

I didn’t think much of it as I figured they might be cheap bearings etc and I have always planned to purchase some good bearings one day but I have never got around to it. Cleaning them up with WD40 etc frees them up.

Another woodworker who has an expensive German or Austrian bandsaw dropped over on the weekend and looked at my bearings and told me he has the same problem with his bandsaw but only the bottom bearings.

Is this a common problem? I do keep my bearings reasonably clean and clear of sawdust but it just keeps coming back. Any suggestions would be helpful.


- Wood Borer

[soundman]

try some teflon fortified oil such as teflube or similar. WD40 won't put anything back in the way of lasting lubrication.


or preferably

take out a bearing and get the to a bearing shop and buy a couple of sets.

it should be quite cheap.

[alf t]

Hi WB,
I can't help you with your problem but perhaps that is the reason why a lot of the bandsaws come with rollers on the top and block guides on the bottom! Mine will not fit rollers on the bottom (round hole) but I am about to upgrade and saw two Bandsaws at Timbercon yesterday while in Perth and the more expensive one did not have roller bearings on the bottom.
Cheers
Alf

[GeoffS]

Just to add to comment about WD40 and similar products. Most of these not only don't lubricate, they will REMOVE any lubrication that is there.
After cleaning with WD40 (or similar) soak the bearing in suitable oil.
After all that - it seems pretty obvious that an oily bearing right where all the dust goes is not a great idea.

[Wood Borer]

Thanks,

I might just consider keeping the roller bearings on top and replacing the bottom rollers with two pieces of red gum.

Unfortunately it is not really safe to be looking under the table whilst you are cutting up top to see if there is significantly more sawdust. I might see if I can talk SWMBO into running a bit of timber through the bandsaw whilst I observe.

- Wood Borer

[Dean]

Hmm there is a product for car engines called "Slick 50"
Not sure if it is still available anymore, but bassicaslly, you added it to your engine and it would stick to the engine walls...

Apparently they did a test on this stuff where they added the Slick 50 to the engine, drove the car around for 30 mins (to mix it up with the engine oil) and then they drained all the oil out of the motor.

They then drove the car from Darwin to Adelaide (off memory) without engine oil and this Slick 50 stuff protected the engine from destruction... It was reported in a couple publications years back.

I wonder if this stuff is any good for these types of purposes (i.e. bandsaw roller lubing). Sounds like pretty good stuff.

Anyone know anything more about it? It may not even be available anymore?

[DaveInOz]

Is it possible to replace the bearings with sealed ones from a bearings shop?
I don't have a bandsaw (yet).

[Zsteve]

I would only really consider putting on sealed bearings, although these still get problems over time as they are not completely sealed, and still let in fine dust. Unless they are protected in some kind of housing around the bearing, it is difficult to keep them clean and running well - sealed bearing are best though.

Just need to keep things clean as possible with the odd bit of maintenance.

Regards
Stephen

[Sir Stinkalot]

Here is a link to a product similar to the Slick 50 mentioned above ....

Roil (http://www.jaguarmagazine.com/techtips/ttips6.html)

It may have some use around the workshop.

[peter mikk]

re bearings, the bearings are getting full of dust, before replacing them try removing the bearings, get a fine point and remove the seals on each side of the bearing and wash them out in thinners, kero or whatever, dry them, repack with grease and replace the seals. like new!!!

[Dan]

If we are talking about the deluxe guides that carbatec sells, then they are supplied with shielded bearings, not sealed (the shield has a clearance gap on the inner race). If you want sealed bearings, substitute the "Z" at the end of the number stamped on the bearing with "RS" when you go to buy some new ones, and you'll never have to worry about them again.

If, on the other hand, we are talking about the roller guide blocks that fit in place of the original (plastic) blocks, I am not sure if a sealed equivalent would be available.

[q9]

Just to add to the discussion on WD-40...

The WD in WD-40 stands for - Water Displacement. That should give you a clue as to its real purpose. The 40 is simply the number of the successful formula ie the guy that developed it had 40 goes at it.


There is quite a lot about WD-40 at

www.howstuffworks.com


A better substituition if you are looking for lubrication is Inox (contains some oil etc) or some other stuff called (I think) Technical Lubricant, made in Germany, stinks but is plastic safe etc.

[journeyman Mick]

I've succesfully reconditioned bearings in my planer when I was working out bush by removing them, taking off the dust covers, cleaning out any junk then putting them in a small tin of grease and placing this tin in a pan of boiling water. Left it in there for a couple of beers, removed from heat, when cool replaced dust covers and reassembled planer. The slick 50 is a teflon additive, and may be okay (I use it in all my small motors) but my bet would be with "Tri-Flo". You can probably find it at a motorbike or cycle shop. It is a very thin oil with teflon in it. It readily wicks into the tiniest crevices and unlike most oils actually repels dirt. I used it on my mountain bike chains, (back when I still rode) you could ride through mud and slush and get home covered head to foot in it and the only thing that would be clean was the chain. I think I'd be using it and maybe blowing the bearings clean with compressed air between cuts.

Mick

[Wood Borer]

Friday night I removed the seized bearings and put them in a jar of metho and shook them around. The metho quickly turned red – possibly redgum sawdust or the previous lubricant. I replaced the dirty metho with clean metho and continued the cleaning process.

After cleaning with the metho, the bearings turned again! Unfortunately I did not have any of the really good oils previously mentioned. I put some other oil that had been laying about the shed for years into a small jar and placed the bearings in the jar of oil. I submersed the jar into boiling water for 10 minutes remembering something about doing this with wheel bearings from years ago. Essentially the heat thinned out the oil enabling it to easily enter the bearing. The heat also caused air trapped in the bearing to bubble out.

The bearings are as now good as they ever were and after a weekend of using the bandsaw they can still turn easily. It appears that most of the dust seems to enter the bearings from the rear of the bearings. Next time I will purchase some sealed bearings with the Z code and one of the oils suggested so I can recondition the old bearing and have them as spares.


I noticed this morning Mick had already suggested the boiling water technique.

The guides are the deluxe ones with three bearings on top and three bearing below. It is only the bottom side to side bearings that clog up.

Thanks for all of your replies, they have been most useful and informative.


- Wood Borer

[Dan]

Wood Borer,

Bearings with a code XXXX 2Z, eg 6200 2Z, are shielded only and will not exclude fine dust. The shields will also let the lubricant out which is what happened when you washed them in metho.

Bearings with a code XXXX 2RS are sealed. Dust can't get in, lubricant can't get out.

Just want to make sure there was no confusion caused by my last post.

Dan

[Wood Borer]

Dan,

thanks so much. Your comments have been noted and now reside in my wallet for when I go to the bearing place around the corner from work.

- Wood Borer

[soundman]

don't waste your trip to the bearing dude.

there is much to learn there and many goodies such as drive belts ,O rings & stuff that can be realy helpfull when building & maintaining stuff

Some things are sooo xcheap there that it is embarasing to ask the bloke to walk to the shelf for them.

Never buy a bearing as a genuine spare part!!!! If it can be avoided.



Cheers

[barnsey]

Guys,

If you go to a place like Bearing Services - find them or others in the yellow pages - take one of the bearings with you and tell them the application - they will help. Apart from the the option of shields and seals on the bearings they can advise on the right lubricant that the things are packed with to start with from the manufacturer. Sure you might get the spotty faced kid serving you to start with but try to find their resident technical expert. Bearings are a very big subject - working in the aviation game for 20 odd years taught me that much.

Good Luck

Jamie:D

[ubeaut]

Almost everyone seems to have missed out on one vital point here. Oil attracts dust. Bandsaws create lots of it and it all goes past the bottom bearing. If you have a non sealed bearing then it is going to clog with dust sooner or later. Re-oiling only compounds the problem.

[Helix]

Is there a dry spray lubricant in Australia? I read about Boeshield T9 for lubrication and rust prevention. Is this available in Oz, or something like it?

[journeyman Mick]

Tri Flow won't attract dust, rather it will repel it. It successfully lubricates chains on dirt bikes and mountain bikes whilst repelling dust and mud. Of course properly sealed bearings are going to alleviate most of your problems but in my experience sealed bearings are not a guarantee against the ingress of dirt.

Mick

[gdf26562]

I recently saw a show on Landline, about a lubricant based on sheeps wool, I think it was called lanolin or similar, it appeared to be a great lubricant, would this be any good in a dust filled work shop, apparently great for rust prevention.

[alf t]

I think that this thread has led back to my original reply. It would appear that bottom bearings are a P>I>T>A. It is no wonder that the more expensive of the two bandsaws I checked out had adjustable guides on the bottom and not bearings.

Alf:o