My son just bought an old Sears table saw, and I believe the arbor bearings need some lubrication. I was wondering what would be the best product to use on this? Do any of you have a recommendation for arbor lube?
Well if the bearings are making noise and the saw is older then you might need to replace the bearings. Because most of the time the bearings are sealed and you cant lube them. Just my 2 cents.
That's true that the manual would specify what to use, but I was wondering if there is a better product for lubricating bearings today than there was 60 years ago when this saw was made.
Why do you think that the bearings need lubed? If they aren't noisy or dragging, they're probably fine. If you must lube them, I agree with Coastie about using a dry spray lubricant.
The average life span of a sealed ball bearing is about 25 years. Being that the bearings are older than that I would replace them. If for nothing else peace of mind. The grease in the bearing, if there is any left, is going to be hard dried out and not able to lubricate anything. If you have to go through the hassle of removing the arbor why not just put new bearings in? To me, its a no brainer.
A lot would depend on hours of operation, the environment in which the saw was exposed to and the most important thing would be run-out on the arbor. This can be checked very easily with a dial indicator or even a straight edge and feeler gauges. The old adage applies " IF IT'S NOT BROKE DON'T FIX IT ". Unless the saw has seen heavy use I would think it would be good to go.
That is good advice. I'll tell my son to check it for the run-out.
I believe he can get to the bearings without much problem, and so maybe some of the dry lubricant you mentioned in an earlier post might be all that's necessary.
Arbor bearings are easy to change but most people may not have a bearing press. But most auto shops do and some auto parts store do. Before I got my own bearing press I would just go to the local NAPA auto parts, I get my bearings there too, and they press them on for free.
I always get sealed bearing with metal side shields. They are lubed for life.
I have a Craftsman hybrid style saw that was made in the 50's or 60's and the bearings on it are fine. The arbor spins freely with no noise and the runout is .001". If the bearings raent noisy and the runout is under .005" I owuldnt touch the bearings.
OK, friends, thanks for all the helpful comments. Here is the conclusion of the matter.
My son installed a Power Twist Plus link belt and a new Freud blade, and he says that it purrs like a kitten now. As it turned out, the blade that was on the saw was bent, and the belt was stiff and needed to be replaced.
He said that with the new belt and blade, he could cut 2X4"s all day long with the saw hardly slowing down at all.
So, he didn't have to mess with the bearings at all, but I did advise him, based on some of the helpful posts here, that if he could easily get to the bearings, to spray some dry lubricant on them.
So, thanks again to all of you for the very helpful advice!
Re:
but I did advise him, based on some of the helpful posts here, that if he could easily get to the bearings, to spray some dry lubricant on them.
Spraying dry lube on greased bearings may not be the best thing for them. If the factory called for grease, that would be the only thing that they should be re-lubricated with. The dry lube may displace the grease and not be a sufficient lubricant for long bearing life.
I just replaced the arbor bearings in a 1950 something Craftsman model 113.27520 that I am doing a complete restore on. The bearings are not real easy to find, go to a bearing supply house for correct fit. mine were unusual in size,, 6202-zz-5/8 Special size (5/8×35x11mm) Sears will sell you the bearings for double the price of a bearing supply house.
one of my original bearings was a NORMA XF-121-PP the other a NEW DEPARTURE 77120
The hub that the blade fits up to is pinned to the arbor shaft and must be removed in order to get one of the bearings off, care must be used doing this. I mark the hub and shaft to make sure it goes back exactly as it came apart. THIS IS CRITICAL. This work can be done without a bearing press with a little care but if your not comfortable do this I would suggest a machine shop, I don't trust some of the help in the auto part stores.
if not careful the hub can be cocked or arbor bent resulting in run-out.
the bearings in these old saws are open on one side the saw is designed so that you can lube both the arbor and the bearings by squirting some into a grease fitting on the arbor housing.
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