My package from Iturra arrived this week as planned. One thing I forgot to mention in my previous post as an added benefit of going with Iturra for parts, is that they include instructions on how to remove the old parts and install the new ones. If you go with NAPA or Accurate Bearing or likely any of the other outlets for bearings, you aren’t going to get the instructions on how to install them.
Today I managed to mess with the lower wheel assembly. I tried to take the upper wheel off but it was stuck and the lower one popped off without difficulty so I went with the path of least resistance.
To loosen the nuts to remove the wheels, they are lefty loosey (counterclockwise to loosen). In case you are having trouble getting yours off and are wondering if you’re turning in the wrong direction.
After removing the nut, the wheel popped off with just a little effort.
You can see there’s a lot of oxidation or something on the wheel itself, which I guess is aluminum or I’ve heard maybe magnesium? Anyway, lots of white scaley stuff on it. I hit it with a scouring pad and some WD-40. I’m not sure what this wheel is supposed to look like, so my goal was basically to make it not look like it had white, scaley stuff all over it.
Success! I also have marked the wheel with a red “B” so I know which side is front and which wheel came off the bottom.
As you can see, the tires are pretty cracked and worn. Chock this up to the Arizona heat and this machine sitting in it for who knows how long. I scraped a bit off with an old, cheap chisel and was able to basically get in underneath the tire and it peeled right off. Not sure if it had ever been glued on or not, but if it had, the glue had dried so much that it wasn’t really apparent that glue had ever existed on this tire. Hoping the upper one goes as well. The photo shows the rim of the wheel without having been cleaned up at all. No real signs of glue there.
One thing I looked for was drill-holes for someone having previously used that method to balance the wheel. There were a few holes drilled (not all the way through). I haven’t checked this wheel for balance yet, but the upper one is very well balanced. I will check the balance on it and decide what to do about filling these holes. I’m also not sure if these holes will be an issue with thinner/more pliant Urethane tires. The holes may leave flat spots on the crown of the tire. So may need to fill these, which could leave the wheel unbalanced. Not sure what to do yet, will have to wait and see how balanced wheel is “as-is” and sort it out later.
To remove the bearings from the lower wheel (the Iturra bearings included instructions on how to do it on both the Delta 14” as well as the Jet counterpart). I removed the pulley which has a hex nut in the side to hold it in place. It was a bit rusted in place, but with a bit of effort it came loose and I removed it.
Next I removed the nut from the pulley side. Again, this was loosened by turning counter-clockwise. This nut was stiff to remove (there was no point where I could just use my fingers to unscrew it). But it came off without issues as well. I took a small, rubber mallet and tapped from the pulley side of the shaft and popped out the wheel-side bearing. Apparently I was supposed to pop out the pulley side first. Not sure what difference it makes, but what’s done is done. I couldn’t easily get the pulley-side bearing out, so I threaded the nut back on the pulley side of the shaft. This leaves about 6 inches of shaft sticking out from where the nut is. From the wheel side, I pushed the shaft back through and out of that bearing, so that the nut I just put back on was pressing against the inside of the pulley-side bearing. I then tapped the wheel side of the shaft with a light, rubber mallet and it popped the pulley-side bearing out just fine.
Below is the entire lower shaft/wheel/assembly.
From left to right, the nut that holds the wheel on. Woodruff key is visible sticking up. The wheel would come next, then you see the wheel-side bearing, the long stretch of shaft that goes through the body of the band saw, the pulley side nut (which is out of place since I put it back on as mentioned above), followed by the 2 spring washers, pulley side bearing, then you should have the pulley-side nut (but it is out of place in this photo), and finally the pulley would go at the end. You can see a stripe of rust at the far right side of the shaft, this is the bit of shaft that stuck out from the pulley. Note the position of the nuts is to have the flat side facing outward and the raised, ridge side facing inward. I’ll make no claims as to whether or not this is how these are supposed to be installed, but this is how they were when I removed them. So I’ll be putting them back the same way (unless someone chimes in here with a compelling reason to do otherwise).