Changing Bearings on a Table Saw

Try here for parts:

http://www.ereplacementparts.com/delta-parts-c-3275.html?osCsid=cab09f434de3209956caa4158b468ee5

Which bearings are you talking about? In the motor? What makes you think they are going out?

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

I guess you are talking about the arbor bearings. Yes they do go out and yes they can be changed. I have done it on my old 1954 Craftsman that I still use. You will know it when they go. They will squeal or you will get a lot of runout. Don’t pound them out with a mallet. Take off the trunion and take it to a mechanic with an arbor press and have them pressed out, and the new ones pressed in. I would go to the manufacture for a replacement number. It may be a standard bearing that you can buy for cheaper elsewhere, but they are not an expensive type thing. A inexpensive place on the web where you can buy bearings one at a time is VXB.com.

As far as alignment when it is all done, I think you can handle it in a hour or so. It aint brain surgery.

Steve

-- Stevethepeeve -- I'm no rocket surgeon

Hey Blake, I used to have an old Delta/Rockwell saw. They were built pretty tough. Probably one of the best upgrades would be to replace the motor with a more modern version as the old ones eventually grow weak, and are not as energy efficient as todays motors.

The blade bearings are easy to replace and the whole assy. should pull from the saw without much difficulty. Your new bearings should be of a “sealed” type as they really get abused by the dust. A good supplier is VXB Bearings but be sure to accurately mic the dimensions before you order. (When I ordered the new set for my armature, the inside dimension was maybe 1/1000” too small causing me to have to machine the armature shaft to fit.) My armature eventually went south due to weakness, not the bearings.

Other parts suppliers are Acetoolrepair.com and Toolpartsdirect.com. I found all kinds of goodies for my saw thru them…except the armature as it had been discontinued. OH, I definately wasn’t bummed though as this caused the wife to give in to a new saw purchase!

Your saw looks of the cast iron table and the fence looks like an accurate type as well. Definately worth upgrading. Give that baby a V8! Maybe a Chevy 454, fuel injected, blower, some chrome. Arr-Arr-Arrr!

-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!

Its not a problem. Bearings usually have a part number on them and do a search on the web for that number. You might find a cross reference.

probably less than $20.00 each. As for me I knock them out myself. I use a brass rod ond run it through to hole on one side to get to the bearing on the other side. Tapping with a hammer and moving around the bearing should knock it out.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

Cheap Chinese sockets are great for pounding out bearings too, but you always run the risk of cracking the base. Best to get them pressed out if possible.

My bearings were ordered matching the part number, size etc. The new ones matched perfectly, except for the inner race was 1/1000” too small. Go figure. Anyhow, I put the armature into the drill press, run it up to a good speed, and hit the bearing area with a bastard file followed up with emery cloth. Worked fine.

Adapt and overcome!

-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!

Another source of parts is www.dewaltservicenet.com They are the “factory” parts handlers for Delta, Porter Cable and Dewalt (in fact it is part of Dewalt) and typically for the special stuff they are the source that all the other vendors go to. They have all the manuals online, the exploded parts diagrams etc. Plus they show online whether or not a specific part is available. You need to know your model number and serial number (in some cases) to search the parts. If it shows that it is not available on their site then the chance you’ll get the parts is nill, unless someone had an extra sitting on the shelf. However, as far as bearings go they are more universal so you’ll likely find you can get them through a number of vendors. The dewaltservicenet site is not the friendliest site to navigate around, but once you figure it out it is very useful.

-- Rich, Madison WI

Thanks for the info. About how much time and trouble is involved for a first-timer on this job? An afternoon? A weekend?

And what’s a ball-park for how much good bearings would cost?

-- Check out my new website! http://www.blakeweberwoodworking.com

I think I paid around $10-20.00 for my bearings, this also depends on what type you buy. Ceramic bearings are by far the best, and the price reflects that. Like I said though, you’ll want sealed bearings.

As for time…Well that depends on a couple of things. First would be your mechanical ability. You seem to have your “stuff” together in this field, so I don’t think it will present a problem. The second thing is how your saw is constructed, and how easily it comes apart. You haven’t provided a model number, so that’s about as far as I can go.

Once you get into it though would be a great time to overhaul the whole thing. Get all that dust and crap out of there. Clean up the rack and trunion gears, etc. In other words…make it new again!

-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!