The saw started to get a bit noisy the other day after about an hour and a halfs total use, so remembering what I'd read about dry bearings, I pulled them out and :eek: - Actually the first sign of what was to come was the little pile of black-brown dust under each bearing. Each bearing was obviously very dry and had started to erode.

So, I pulled the bearings out and ...

1. They're not bearings, but cheap steel bolts machined to look like bearings running in brass or bronz bushes.

2. The bolts and bushes were as dry as a really, really dry thing.

3. They were all pitted along one side where they had been forced against the bearings.

Poor job done here Delta on an important part of the saw

The machined bolts needed a lot of cleaning up, so I put them in the metal lathe and gave them a good clean up. There's only minor pitting left on them now. I've lubed them up with a bit of engine oil from the oil can and reassembled everything, also oiled the other pivot points. This is just a temporary fix until I can dig out the grease from the garage in the light of day in the weekend and do the job properly.

The saw now runs LOTS quieter and vibration is reduced also. I may look at getting some proper bearings and installing them at some point.