@@matthiasrandomstuff2221 I’m not sure where you live, but here in the US there are tons of bearing companies that have pretty much any size you could imagine. I’m in northeast Ohio and there is Akron bearing just to name one.
My dad was the kind of man that would buy a rebuild kit for a brake cylinder. I thought he was foolish; spending so much time to save so few dollars, until I got older. Now I have so much respect for the way he lived. This video reminds me of him. I like it.
Who doesn't rebuild a cylinder? Shoot, in Arizona we rebuild everything a cylinder is like bottom of the barrel guy... get out ur lil eco-zone and explore life more... cylinders is just one part on one machine of many thousands that are out there... I've resleeved motor piston cylinders for 350 motors, rebuilt it and I'm still a newbie... and that's just it, I'm not on a MASTER level, let alone GOD TIER... and those people exist
I wish we could get back to fixing solid stuff rather than throwing broken ones and buying new ones over and over again. People fall into this "single-use" trap easily. But, it was only meant to serve global giants of manufacturing which paid the politicians to push the first world country into this shit.
Many years ago I worked for a company that had a lot of machines that needed regular maintenance. The bearings were all sealed as the one in your video. We were taught to drill a small hole carefully in the seal of the bearing. Then cover the hole with silicone caulk. When they needed grease, we simply used a needle tip on the grease gun. Worked good for us. Thanks.
In bearings that have plastic protectors, it is easy to remove these covers for cleaning and regreasing, but when these protectors are made of tin, usually the covers get dented when removed and assembled. This way to regrease this type of bearing is very well thought out. God bless you.
Yes anyone can just buy new. Its always nice to be able to salvage what we already have though. Particularly when encountering the infamous "backordered" message online but also just to see human ingenuity. Well done. Subscribed.
That vacuum method was pretty clever. Granted, it wasn’t the most efficient way to pack a bearing, brute forcing the grease in proved to be much faster. But still it was clever.
@@the_hate_inside1085 Clever indeed. With enough saw dust and other things being vacuumed, if it's only a little residue maybe it works itself out eventually.
well i never!! ive been repacking and regreasing bearings for 50yrs and have never seen such things. Man that will save me a motza on damaged bearing seals. Thanks for sharing Matthias. And for those who say buy new ones, I'm tipping they don't live and work 250miles from their nearest place to even order bearings..
I have a Powermatic 14” bandsaw with Carter bearing guides, I hate them! Every time I go to use my bandsaw there’s at least one bearing is sticky or frozen. I’m going to try this trick on all of the bearings when I get the time. Thank you Mr. Wandel!☮️👍🏼
I used the vacuum cleaner technique on my bicycle wheels, to get grease right through the axle to both sets of bearings (having first flushed them with degreaser, and dried them off). It worked very well. I've also used this technique to get woodglue deep into cracks. Vacuum cleaner on one side of the crack, tape in strategic places to concentrate the vacuum on the other side of the wood, and glue applied at that point until it appears at the other side of the wood.
I love the tinkerer attitude 💪 Let’s find a way to do it . Doesn’t matter I can replace the bearing relatively inexpensive. But I get to tinker with it . Clean out old grease , build a fixture to force new grease in . 😄 I spend many hours doing just like that 💪
Yes, Shopsmiths are somewhat odd creatures (owning a couple myself). But they work fine and are still supported by the manufacturer. That’s what really keeps them going. The same basic design has been around for 66 years, with improvements that are designed to be back compatible to those older machines. If a person doesn’t have a lot of space, a Shopsmith can be a good all around solution. Definitely not a perfect solution but it’s not designed to be in a cabinet shop. And yes, the bandsaw is odd by design, but for someone who understands it’s quirks, it’s actually simpler to set up than a standard bandsaw.
Thanks for sharing both methods of packing a bearing. To fix the shaking of your band saw buy a new set of tires for the pulleys. After that get in the habit of releasing the tension on the blades when the saw is not being used. The tension flattens the tires after sitting thus the shaking.
Very interesting method, I liked it very much. In the case of high loads bearings, there is a specific type of grease. Very sticky and smells like most of mechanics shops. Cheers!
Me too, bad thing is I replaced the thrust bearings little over a year ago! Of course who knows how long my FIL had the replacement bearings that came with the SS...
I bought a ShopSmith a few years back and used it a fair amount. Wound up getting rid of it. A dedicated tool for each job is simply better, especially when the do-all machine isn't really designed that well to begin with. To be fair, it did get me by and it was only about $100 used, including a bunch of extras.
The thing I love about Shopsmith is walking straight from the (whatever machine configuration the tool is in) to the accessory wall to get the other attachment and retool.
That grease jig probably would have worked on my drill press bearings, but they were damaged knocking them out. Like you said just get new ones if you can't get at them easily. Nice and quiet now.
To the peril of all other RUclipsrs, I watched John Heisz' video first. Thanks for the useful content Matthias! I'm pretty sure my bandsaw bearings are ready for some grease.
I used to clean bearings every week when I raced R/C cars a couple of decades ago. I bought a jig that, although plastic, looks a lot like what you made for blasting out the bearings using brake cleaner. It was designed with a conical shape so that many different size bearings could be cleaned. IIRC it was called a bearing blaster. Thanks for the tips and the memories!
2023 and I am returning to comment. This method works amazingly well. Flush the bearing with 3 in 1 or WD and blow dry. Place bearing in a jig above a shop vac and boy howdy does that grease get in that bearing. Holy lubrication. The fan on a 10 year old quartz heater began squeaking loudly and pissing off the wife and the chinchillas. This method returned the heater to the previous, silent operation. To those who say "Buy new bearings..." Well, I repaired the unit in less time than it would take to actually locate, order and receive the bearings. It's only temporary if it doesn't work.
I usually pop the shields using two dental picks (you grab the springs on opposite sides and lever out) but this is much more interesting. Especially for rarer bearings that can't be replaced/ (shield can't be)removed (of which i've come across a few times).
Only thing I'd do different probably would be to soak the bearings in the solvent longer to allow it to break down the grease and dirt. Not sure how well it worked just jigging them around in it for a few seconds. When we re-greased automotive wheel bearings in automotive class in high school we'd lay them in kerosene for a couple hours and then come back to them and clean them.
For the smaller bearings i find two Stanley blades work quite well. I can easily take apart a PC fan bearing (3x8x4 - 693) and regrease, I prefer mobil polyrex EM, it makes less noise. The newer bearings have press in shields and can't be removed without damaging them...
@@teofilstevenson I've been popping the shields of bearings for over 50 years, but only as a short term measure, the grease as come out because of wear.
Yes, Shopsmith bandsaw are weird, but in a wonderful way. The upper wheel isn’t crowned but has a slight taper, and it is canted to the back, which causes it to auto-track against the bearings on the left. Great vid as always, Matthias. Scott
Looks like the tension was set above the max on a 1/4 inch blade and the blade didn`t seem to track at the back of wheel as it should. Maybe other issues are afoot?
My old trusty Shopsmith bandsaw has bronze bearings. I remove them , wipe them, and hit them with non-lithium grease (brake grease) once every couple of years, and it's golden. I'll wear out before those bronze bearings will.
You can grease the bearings easily without the jig by putting some grease in your hand and repetitively rub the side of the bearing through it while rotating it. This will hydraulic the grease through the bearing.
That's the old tried and true method used for automotive wheel bearings back in the days of drum brakes. It works, did it many times before I got a tool for greasing wheel bearings using a grease gun.
@@bobd. I just got to thinking, an automotive bearing grease jig would probably be pretty easy to make out of wood. I never thought about it back in the day. I drive a GMC Safari van that's rear wheel drive and I just hand packed brand new bearings for it and put new rotors on while I was at it. Runs smooth now 👍
You sir, are a genus! I'll have to try that! Thanks for the great tip!!! When my hard to reach bearings get dry, I oil them with 30W nondetergent motor oil.
30W oil? What is that? SAE J300 is THE standard that defines automobile engine lubricants viscosities and it does not recognize 30W oil. My guess: you mean SAE 30 oil. Second point: where you are going to find non detergent oil? For engine oil to be totally avoid any detergents it has to be of type API SA - some 70 years old standard. Hint: even monograde oil, i.e. for lawn movers or heavy duty diesel are detergent oils.
Yes, you are correct, I meant SAE 30! And for your second question, I buy SAE 30 non-detergent at my local auto parts store. I use it in all my oil cans and use it to lubricate all of my equipment and tractor bearings as well as my jaws when they get squeaky ;-}
I clean (usually only when rusty) with WD40 or diesel, mixes with grease better. I spin the bearing using the rubber backing adapter for roloc pads. You can usually blow a rubber sided seal out of a bearing, and pack with your thumbs. I have never had grease cross contamination ruin a bearing, if there was grease In there we would not be doing this. A blunt tip assortment of syringes is a must, 14 - 25 gauge, (20 for $10) you can simply just add some grease through the gap in the shield there. If the rubber of an applicable bearing is supple, you can just go under the lip. I warm the syringes a bit, and squeeze them with pliers, putting the syringe barrel through a metal washer where your index and birdie finger go to grab on to. I mostly drill a small hole in the seal wall, (cuz the seal is crunchy) and fill. Seal hole with a dab of 1min permetex right stuff. If you roll the bearing while putting the needle in, you can usually get deeper. I over pack the bearing and spin it very fast and fling the excess grease back out and clean off. I use Full Synthetic Valvoline VV985. It mixes great. Bad advice for space shuttles and aeroplanes, but wonderful for cars and equipment. I have had great luck greasing timing belt pulleys and front wheel bearings on cars/trucks, (sealed assemblys, not old school) If they are apart for something else like a ball joint or water pump, drill a hole and squirt them up, they will even quiet back up if noisy and arrest advancement of whatever axial play, if any, was there. I would run a re-greased Japanese timing belt pulley over a luck of the draw Chinese sourced part any day. A gambit of new timing belt pulleys could exceed the value of the car. (I have been known to repack new pulleys from 3rd party's to ensure good grease) Most people will not a replace belt pulley, if I can even get them to change the belt. I have greased hundreds of noisy 6203 style bearings and they always end up out lasting the thing I bolted them back on to. If a bearing does not spin a lot, I use Seal Glyde as a lubricant instead.
Curious what type if grease you used. Also, the second way of filling them, by pushing grease through the bearing, is easy if you need to fill many bearings with the same dimensions. Built a base plate with a rod that matches the inner diameter of the bearing that has a thread on it so you can screw the acrylic top tight. The acrylic top has two holes and you push grease in one hole with a syringe until it flows out of the other. Same volume filled every time and easy to clean when screening many different grease samples. /chemist working in grease R&D
Fantastic answers lads. Really narrowed it down. (Most probably this is a multipurpose simple lithium grease but the transparency of it makes me want to say anhydrous calcium but that seems a bit unlikely for a regular consumer. Also colour is 100% irrelevant, any grease can be dyed any colour, almost.)
Sometimes the easiest, temporary fix is to: drill a small hole in the shield; Hit hole slightly with a center punch to make a mild countersink; Force grease in with a Lincoln needle grease applicator; and seal hole with a dab of adhesive.
I read stories of a farmer, in a Shopsmith group (who had a small herd of Shopsmiths in his barn in multiple configurations-- like double-headed drill press, etc.), and he'd regrease actual sealed bearings in his large hay mowers. He drilled a small hole in the seal, pushed grease in, cleaned the seal and put a dab of silicone sealer on the hole.
Look, just Dremel the bearing in half. After you've gotten stitches on your thumb, cleaned up the blood and tissue from the workbench, try to see if the part number is still legible so you can order a new one.
Since these bearings aren't aligning a shaft, after cleaning the blood you can just measure the ID, OD, width and get one of that size from the auto parts shop.
The important thing in this video is not the few dollars he saved but his creativity coming up with a way to lubricate the bearing. What if this bearing is no longer manufactured? There is an old saying: There is more than one way to skin a cat. It's always good to learn more things. I had never thought of this way to relubricate a bearing.
@@saylormalan when a bearing starts making noise there is already metal on metal contact and it's no good anymore. Besides, no bearings are out of production, just read the specs or measure them and order off of a catalog or auto parts store. No point in getting them from the manufacturer.
@@mick1gallagher Greetings from Brazil. I'm an amateur mechanic. I was born liking mechanics. Each case is different. In this specific case I think it's worth relubricating to last a few more years. What cannot happen is for a bearing to run without grease. Putting grease on this little beauty, it can still last a reasonable amount of time.
Clever bearing tools. Conical bearing packers are commonly available (and inexpensive) and fit a range of bearing sizes. I use mine to pump fresh grease into bearings while purging the old grease out. No need for solvents.
@@1pcfred Yes, seals keep lube in and contaminants out. “Arizona Road Dust” or carbon bush dust are fine enough to work its way though but for the most part rubber seals on precision bearings work.
@@teofilstevenson in my experience what rubber seals do is keep contaminants in bearings. Whatever manages to get past the seal gets into a bearing and doesn't come out until you pop the seals and clean the bearing. Sealed for life means the bearing is beat once the seal has been defeated. Not nothing ever gets in the bearing. I mean use your head. The seal wears as the bearing turns. A seal contacts the inner and outer races so the outer stays stationary along with the seal and the inner turns on the seal. It's not going to put up with that forever.
@@1pcfred Hey Mr Wizard, I do use my head and have used it for the 35 yrs I’ve worked for a world class bearing manufacturer. This isn’t the Stone Age, technology has addressed such things.
The problem with greasing up squealing bearings is that the damage is already done. Once they squeal, you've had unlubricated metal on metal contact and wear has taken place. But I suppose for something like a band saw, you'll probably be ok. Not good for things that run for extended periods of time, or even continuously like wheel bearings, air handler motors and bearings, etc.
For those who fail to see the point, you can make that grease jig in less time that it takes to hit the hardware store or auto parts house. On top of that you didn't need to blow $10 worth of gas to do it..... and ... you have an exact fit bearing!
I was told to disassemble the bearing and pack with grease. Grease can get so old and hard it can damage the bearing. Upon removal of the lock ring & seal, hardened grease can be removed & bearing inspected for gulls, nicks etc. Then repacked with proper lubricant required for F-102 flight controles that I was working on. You really don't want hardened grease messing up you'r day.
Instead of sticking your finger in that paint thinner, put that plastic container up against any vibrating object and let the vibration do the work. I own a nice ultrasonic cleaner but with bearings, along with other things, I use a harsher cleaning agent i don't want in the ultrasonic. I put them into a little plastic cup with the cleaner and hold an electric trimmer to it. The vibration works wonders. Saves product as well given you barely have to cover the object with cleaner so you aren't wasting tons of cleaner to do a small job.
Pumping it in seems like a much better idea than trying to suck it through IMHO. If the vacuum can suck the grease into the bearing, it can also suck it out. Pushing it into the bearing will guarantee a much greater amount of grease gets stuck in there.
That looks like a better way than how i do it but if you’re ever lazy, i mix the grease with a solvent and spray it into the bearing. Once the solvent dries the grease is left.
I saw this video a while back and looked it up and found it again. I've got a Grizzly that has those bearing blade guides that I've previously replaced and they've been howling again for a while now. Wondered if your grease technique might work. And it worked! Interesting to see that there was little to no grease in them to begin with. I figure the new grease should have been able to push any old stuff out but there was none. I did do a quick soak in mineral spirits first to get the saw dust and resin off them. Great tip.
Quick tip on that Mobil 1 synthetic grease (almost certain that's what you used because of the color and consistency). Mix it 1:2 with WD-40 marine grease (1 part Mobil 1 synthetic to 2 parts WD-40 marine), 1:1 if you've already bought a ton of it. Both advise NOT to mix them but in my trials on stationary machines, bikes and handheld power tools they both work just fine together. The Mobil 1, on its own, will separate and run all over the place given time but the WD-40 marine has no such problem, in fact, it thickens up the Mobil more than enough to never run. In a confined, sealed, bearing maybe there's no issue but in anything with exposure to the air the Mobil WILL separate and run.
Great info. Thanks. Now I'm looking forward to the video showing the blade wheels, still on the saw, running, being turned/filed down on the sides of the faces to make them crowned. Seems a template would be needed.
We use an old warming pot warm up the grease put bearing in and the grease will flow into the bearing. Only worthwhile on big bearings or bearings that get wet.
I see all of your videos as soon as I possibly can, there are so many things to learn from both your channels. I´m a woodworker myself, both professionally AND in my sparetime. I got into woodworking 44 years ago but I lack your ingenuity and maybe I have a challenge I think you would be the only one that can pull of. When you search youtube for an automatic bolt or screw sorting machine theres like 15 examples and none of them are attractive to me. The few examples are either factory made, too enourmes in size, demands to much manuel hand involvement or they only sort them by lenght. I was thinking more of a maschine, that sorted them in length AND diameter. That would realy be something. It doesn't have to be for both bolts AND screws - that would of course be fun if it could be done, but length and diameter is sufficient to me. How about it Matthias? Challenge accepted?
Cool in a pinch. If they're standard bearings though, a few bucks to replace them if you know where to source. I've even bought some NSK bearings direct from the warehouse for just a few dollars, the markups in the store were huge. $30 for a $4-5 bearing etc. Interestingly, bearings usually aren't packed FULL of grease, as this can actually pop them open, they are kind of half-full of grease in most cases. Just enough to lube the ball bearings and races, but not enough to over-pressurize them during operation.
Second method is the one I've always used. Wood is cheap and easy. Edit: I do like the vacuum tho... A little more prep but less waste and mess. I guess if you got a few to do, rigging up the vac is the way to go, especially if they're all different.
That way of cleaning and re-greasing was impressive! I usually remove one of the shields, clean the bearing, lubricate it and re-install the shield - this way is much simpler and leaves no marks on the shields. I should have thought of that years ago :-)
We place the bearing in a large syringe. We fill the syringe with alcohol or kerosene. We expel the air. We extend the piston, create a vacuum. Air bubbles in the bearing, expanding, displace the old grease, and while shrinking, they replace it with kerosene. Then the kerosene is drained, the syringe is filled with grease and the piston movements are repeated, filling the bearing with fresh grease.
![Hunxho - Ball Forever [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/nki9ZTF9Uls/mqdefault.jpg)
What on earth is the point, replace, bearings are very low cost!
if you can find it, yes. but this is an oddball size. also shipping costs and waiting for it.
Yeah not all bearing are cheap, and many times just getting fresh grease in will provide many more years of life.
@@matthiasrandomstuff2221 I’m not sure where you live, but here in the US there are tons of bearing companies that have pretty much any size you could imagine. I’m in northeast Ohio and there is Akron bearing just to name one.
The difference between people 70 years ago and today.. they would fix it while we throw it away and buy new.
@@QargZer Cost for new vs. Repair old.
My dad was the kind of man that would buy a rebuild kit for a brake cylinder. I thought he was foolish; spending so much time to save so few dollars, until I got older. Now I have so much respect for the way he lived. This video reminds me of him. I like it.
Who doesn't rebuild a cylinder? Shoot, in Arizona we rebuild everything a cylinder is like bottom of the barrel guy... get out ur lil eco-zone and explore life more... cylinders is just one part on one machine of many thousands that are out there... I've resleeved motor piston cylinders for 350 motors, rebuilt it and I'm still a newbie... and that's just it, I'm not on a MASTER level, let alone GOD TIER... and those people exist
@@stasylumbassist1 Shut it julio. Nobody cares about your fantastic life
Some times the simplest thing's are easier .
I wish we could get back to fixing solid stuff rather than throwing broken ones and buying new ones over and over again. People fall into this "single-use" trap easily. But, it was only meant to serve global giants of manufacturing which paid the politicians to push the first world country into this shit.
Many years ago I worked for a company that had a lot of machines that needed regular maintenance. The bearings were all sealed as the one in your video. We were taught to drill a small hole carefully in the seal of the bearing. Then cover the hole with silicone caulk. When they needed grease, we simply used a needle tip on the grease gun. Worked good for us. Thanks.
I saw a bearing like that on a motor that came to a shop I worked at. It didnt seem to cause any issues. I was impressed.
If only we all had Matthias living next door!
So true, very resourceful :)
If you don't have a Matthias living next door, be the Matthias of the neighbour
I wanted to say the same...
I wish
Be careful what you wish for... don't you remember the videos with his leaf blower? ;-)
In bearings that have plastic protectors, it is easy to remove these covers for cleaning and regreasing, but when these protectors are made of tin, usually the covers get dented when removed and assembled. This way to regrease this type of bearing is very well thought out. God bless you.
These here were shielded while the ones with plastic or hard rubber are sealed.
some times getting new bearings is better but sometimes it's too hard to find one , your solution is great for second types 👍
Yes anyone can just buy new. Its always nice to be able to salvage what we already have though. Particularly when encountering the infamous "backordered" message online but also just to see human ingenuity. Well done. Subscribed.
That vacuum method was pretty clever. Granted, it wasn’t the most efficient way to pack a bearing, brute forcing the grease in proved to be much faster. But still it was clever.
For when you don't have a grease gun on hand
New video on how to clean grease residue out of my vacuum hose 😂
Sure... seems mostly like a safe way to get a bunch of slimy grease into your shop vac. They way that worked was clever dough.
@@the_hate_inside1085 Clever indeed. With enough saw dust and other things being vacuumed, if it's only a little residue maybe it works itself out eventually.
@@practicalguy973 More like it attracts dirt or whatever else you are vacuuming, and makes it stick to the insides of the machine.
Well hell, that vacuum thing was slick but the grease gun set up was outta sight! Thanks..
well i never!! ive been repacking and regreasing bearings for 50yrs and have never seen such things. Man that will save me a motza on damaged bearing seals. Thanks for sharing Matthias. And for those who say buy new ones, I'm tipping they don't live and work 250miles from their nearest place to even order bearings..
About the best re-greasing process I've seen so far. 👍🏼
I have a Powermatic 14” bandsaw with Carter bearing guides, I hate them! Every time I go to use my bandsaw there’s at least one bearing is sticky or frozen. I’m going to try this trick on all of the bearings when I get the time. Thank you Mr. Wandel!☮️👍🏼
I used the vacuum cleaner technique on my bicycle wheels, to get grease right through the axle to both sets of bearings (having first flushed them with degreaser, and dried them off). It worked very well. I've also used this technique to get woodglue deep into cracks. Vacuum cleaner on one side of the crack, tape in strategic places to concentrate the vacuum on the other side of the wood, and glue applied at that point until it appears at the other side of the wood.
I love the tinkerer attitude 💪
Let’s find a way to do it .
Doesn’t matter I can replace the bearing relatively inexpensive.
But I get to tinker with it .
Clean out old grease , build a fixture to force new grease in .
😄
I spend many hours doing just like that 💪
love it that you cleaned it, then finally created the higher psi grease fill. what more could a bearing ask for.
Happy to see you’re getting to know your neighbours! People down here are friendly but a little shy. 👍❤️
For a moment there, I thought Matthias was going to balance the bandsaw wheels as well.
Perhaps in the next video ? 😬
Next video
Yes, Shopsmiths are somewhat odd creatures (owning a couple myself). But they work fine and are still supported by the manufacturer. That’s what really keeps them going. The same basic design has been around for 66 years, with improvements that are designed to be back compatible to those older machines.
If a person doesn’t have a lot of space, a Shopsmith can be a good all around solution. Definitely not a perfect solution but it’s not designed to be in a cabinet shop.
And yes, the bandsaw is odd by design, but for someone who understands it’s quirks, it’s actually simpler to set up than a standard bandsaw.
Thanks for sharing both methods of packing a bearing. To fix the shaking of your band saw buy a new set of tires for the pulleys. After that get in the habit of releasing the tension on the blades when the saw is not being used. The tension flattens the tires after sitting thus the shaking.
I like your method of greasing those bearing with the gun. Pretty ingenious!
Very interesting method, I liked it very much.
In the case of high loads bearings, there is a specific type of grease. Very sticky and smells like most of mechanics shops. Cheers!
Thanks for this, I'm doing this next time. To think I've been popping the covers off all these years for no reason! Great tip.
Excellent video great I've tried replacing bearings in old equipment and can never find the exact replacement bearing bravo great work my friend
Matthias!
I have a Shopsmith and my bandsaw makes the same sound!
This was a perfect video for me. I know what I am doing today!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Name checks out 😉
Me too, bad thing is I replaced the thrust bearings little over a year ago! Of course who knows how long my FIL had the replacement bearings that came with the SS...
The final method of injecting grease was fantastic. Thank you so much for sharing.
I gotta say that’s the first time I’ve seen bearings greased with a shop vac. Thanks for sharing.
I like the way you blew the paint thinner out of the bearings. Pretty neat little jig.
Wow. I learnt something very useful on RUclips for a change. Very clever idea 💡
love the vacuum regreasing and the pressure jig as well.
Awesome I love this! Good job Matthias. Great to have neighbors you can help and count on them for help 💕👍
I bought a ShopSmith a few years back and used it a fair amount. Wound up getting rid of it. A dedicated tool for each job is simply better, especially when the do-all machine isn't really designed that well to begin with. To be fair, it did get me by and it was only about $100 used, including a bunch of extras.
The thing I love about Shopsmith is walking straight from the (whatever machine configuration the tool is in) to the accessory wall to get the other attachment and retool.
the thing I love about separate machines is that that step is completely u necessary.
or that it's locked into a certain rpm because the selector knob was lost in 1962, and replaced with a vice grip
That grease jig probably would have worked on my drill press bearings, but they were damaged knocking them out. Like you said just get new ones if you can't get at them easily. Nice and quiet now.
That wood block jig for cleaning and pushing grease in is actually genius 😁👍
To the peril of all other RUclipsrs, I watched John Heisz' video first. Thanks for the useful content Matthias! I'm pretty sure my bandsaw bearings are ready for some grease.
Very clever. Also, you can pop the shield open and reinstall it back.
I used to clean bearings every week when I raced R/C cars a couple of decades ago. I bought a jig that, although plastic, looks a lot like what you made for blasting out the bearings using brake cleaner. It was designed with a conical shape so that many different size bearings could be cleaned. IIRC it was called a bearing blaster. Thanks for the tips and the memories!
I love how entertaining these 'random stuff' videos are :)
2023 and I am returning to comment. This method works amazingly well. Flush the bearing with 3 in 1 or WD and blow dry. Place bearing in a jig above a shop vac and boy howdy does that grease get in that bearing. Holy lubrication. The fan on a 10 year old quartz heater began squeaking loudly and pissing off the wife and the chinchillas. This method returned the heater to the previous, silent operation. To those who say "Buy new bearings..." Well, I repaired the unit in less time than it would take to actually locate, order and receive the bearings. It's only temporary if it doesn't work.
That was very clever using wood as a bearing housing to clean and grease the bearings.
I can't believe he came up with two working solutions to get grease into sealed bearings.
Brilliant alternative methods of greasing
I usually pop the shields using two dental picks (you grab the springs on opposite sides and lever out) but this is much more interesting. Especially for rarer bearings that can't be replaced/ (shield can't be)removed (of which i've come across a few times).
Ya same actually, I was like holy crap I may be able to fix some of my old machine bearings finally!
Only thing I'd do different probably would be to soak the bearings in the solvent longer to allow it to break down the grease and dirt. Not sure how well it worked just jigging them around in it for a few seconds. When we re-greased automotive wheel bearings in automotive class in high school we'd lay them in kerosene for a couple hours and then come back to them and clean them.
For high volume standard bearing sizes where there’s high automation in the manufacturing process the shields can be non-removable.
For the smaller bearings i find two Stanley blades work quite well. I can easily take apart a PC fan bearing (3x8x4 - 693) and regrease, I prefer mobil polyrex EM, it makes less noise. The newer bearings have press in shields and can't be removed without damaging them...
@@teofilstevenson I've been popping the shields of bearings for over 50 years, but only as a short term measure, the grease as come out because of wear.
Yes, Shopsmith bandsaw are weird, but in a wonderful way. The upper wheel isn’t crowned but has a slight taper, and it is canted to the back, which causes it to auto-track against the bearings on the left. Great vid as always, Matthias. Scott
Looks like the tension was set above the max on a 1/4 inch blade and the blade didn`t seem to track at the back of wheel as it should. Maybe other issues are afoot?
Amazing idea. I wish I would have know this about 20 years ago. Thanks for helping
NOT a sealed bearing, that's just shielded. but great ideas for shielded bearings to give them new life.
If you have a sealed bearing which has lost its grease, it is now only a shielded bearing. *shrug*
@@Nevir202 lol, true.
Cannot wait to go lube all the bearings on my dad's old band saw. Thank you brother!
Awesome use of your jigs and a shop vac.
My old trusty Shopsmith bandsaw has bronze bearings. I remove them , wipe them, and hit them with non-lithium grease (brake grease) once every couple of years, and it's golden. I'll wear out before those bronze bearings will.
You can grease the bearings easily without the jig by putting some grease in your hand and repetitively rub the side of the bearing through it while rotating it. This will hydraulic the grease through the bearing.
Hadn't thought of that, but even simpler! Less cool though.
Have you ever done that with a shielded bearing?
He did it with ZZ metal sheilded bearings, without removing the shields.
It's hard to hand pack a shielded bearing.
That's the old tried and true method used for automotive wheel bearings back in the days of drum brakes. It works, did it many times before I got a tool for greasing wheel bearings using a grease gun.
@@bobd. I just got to thinking, an automotive bearing grease jig would probably be pretty easy to make out of wood. I never thought about it back in the day. I drive a GMC Safari van that's rear wheel drive and I just hand packed brand new bearings for it and put new rotors on while I was at it. Runs smooth now 👍
You sir, are a genus! I'll have to try that! Thanks for the great tip!!! When my hard to reach bearings get dry, I oil them with 30W nondetergent motor oil.
30W oil? What is that? SAE J300 is THE standard that defines automobile engine lubricants viscosities and it does not recognize 30W oil.
My guess: you mean SAE 30 oil.
Second point: where you are going to find non detergent oil? For engine oil to be totally avoid any detergents it has to be of type API SA - some 70 years old standard. Hint: even monograde oil, i.e. for lawn movers or heavy duty diesel are detergent oils.
Yes, you are correct, I meant SAE 30! And for your second question, I buy SAE 30 non-detergent at my local auto parts store. I use it in all my oil cans and use it to lubricate all of my equipment and tractor bearings as well as my jaws when they get squeaky ;-}
I look forward to all your videos Matthias. Humongous fan!!♥️
That squeaking brought back awful memories of my Shopsmith. I've never been so happy to get rid of a tool
I like it. I will keep that in my memory bank. You never know when you might need to do that.
Love it man.while i was an aprentice toolmaker i used to sit ontop of our bandsaw & eat my lunch.it (the saw)was made from a ww2 era russian tank!
Feels Good When Everything Can Be Fixed
Interesting way to re-grease bearings. Feels like a really Mathias way of doing it :)
I work for a bearing manufacturer, for a band saw application that process should work great. Nicely done!
I clean (usually only when rusty) with WD40 or diesel, mixes with grease better. I spin the bearing using the rubber backing adapter for roloc pads.
You can usually blow a rubber sided seal out of a bearing, and pack with your thumbs.
I have never had grease cross contamination ruin a bearing, if there was grease In there we would not be doing this.
A blunt tip assortment of syringes is a must, 14 - 25 gauge, (20 for $10) you can simply just add some grease through the gap in the shield there. If the rubber of an applicable bearing is supple, you can just go under the lip. I warm the syringes a bit, and squeeze them with pliers, putting the syringe barrel through a metal washer where your index and birdie finger go to grab on to.
I mostly drill a small hole in the seal wall, (cuz the seal is crunchy) and fill. Seal hole with a dab of 1min permetex right stuff.
If you roll the bearing while putting the needle in, you can usually get deeper.
I over pack the bearing and spin it very fast and fling the excess grease back out and clean off.
I use Full Synthetic Valvoline VV985. It mixes great. Bad advice for space shuttles and aeroplanes, but wonderful for cars and equipment.
I have had great luck greasing timing belt pulleys and front wheel bearings on cars/trucks, (sealed assemblys, not old school) If they are apart for something else like a ball joint or water pump, drill a hole and squirt them up, they will even quiet back up if noisy and arrest advancement of whatever axial play, if any, was there.
I would run a re-greased Japanese timing belt pulley over a luck of the draw Chinese sourced part any day. A gambit of new timing belt pulleys could exceed the value of the car. (I have been known to repack new pulleys from 3rd party's to ensure good grease)
Most people will not a replace belt pulley, if I can even get them to change the belt. I have greased hundreds of noisy 6203 style bearings and they always end up out lasting the thing I bolted them back on to.
If a bearing does not spin a lot, I use Seal Glyde as a lubricant instead.
Curious what type if grease you used.
Also, the second way of filling them, by pushing grease through the bearing, is easy if you need to fill many bearings with the same dimensions. Built a base plate with a rod that matches the inner diameter of the bearing that has a thread on it so you can screw the acrylic top tight. The acrylic top has two holes and you push grease in one hole with a syringe until it flows out of the other. Same volume filled every time and easy to clean when screening many different grease samples.
/chemist working in grease R&D
Looks like typical wheel bearing red grease
it looked like red
The slippery slidey kind
Fantastic answers lads. Really narrowed it down.
(Most probably this is a multipurpose simple lithium grease but the transparency of it makes me want to say anhydrous calcium but that seems a bit unlikely for a regular consumer. Also colour is 100% irrelevant, any grease can be dyed any colour, almost.)
I would guess Lucasoil Red N Tacky.
Sometimes the easiest, temporary fix is to: drill a small hole in the shield; Hit hole slightly with a center punch to make a mild countersink; Force grease in with a Lincoln needle grease applicator; and seal hole with a dab of adhesive.
Great idea and would work well when using a packing tool reducing the effort to get the grease in there.
Or you can just put it into a bag with grease and use a vac master
@@andrewa8569 My suggestion is more aimed at situation where the bearing can't be easily removed.
I read stories of a farmer, in a Shopsmith group
(who had a small herd of Shopsmiths in his barn in multiple configurations-- like double-headed drill press, etc.),
and he'd regrease actual sealed bearings in his large hay mowers. He drilled a small hole in the seal, pushed grease in, cleaned the seal and put a dab of silicone sealer on the hole.
Look, just Dremel the bearing in half. After you've gotten stitches on your thumb, cleaned up the blood and tissue from the workbench, try to see if the part number is still legible so you can order a new one.
Since these bearings aren't aligning a shaft, after cleaning the blood you can just measure the ID, OD, width and get one of that size from the auto parts shop.
The important thing in this video is not the few dollars he saved but his creativity coming up with a way to lubricate the bearing. What if this bearing is no longer manufactured? There is an old saying: There is more than one way to skin a cat. It's always good to learn more things. I had never thought of this way to relubricate a bearing.
@@saylormalan when a bearing starts making noise there is already metal on metal contact and it's no good anymore. Besides, no bearings are out of production, just read the specs or measure them and order off of a catalog or auto parts store. No point in getting them from the manufacturer.
@@saylormalan you're some bearing expert
@@mick1gallagher Greetings from Brazil. I'm an amateur mechanic. I was born liking mechanics. Each case is different. In this specific case I think it's worth relubricating to last a few more years. What cannot happen is for a bearing to run without grease. Putting grease on this little beauty, it can still last a reasonable amount of time.
Worthy of the main channel.
Clever bearing tools. Conical bearing packers are commonly available (and inexpensive) and fit a range of bearing sizes. I use mine to pump fresh grease into bearings while purging the old grease out. No need for solvents.
Fantastic, Matthias! Brilliant little jigs! 😃
Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
That is not a sealed bearing. It is a shielded bearing. A sealed bearing has rubber seals that do not allow dirt to get in.
Absolutely correct. And the bearing is shot, if it's making that noise replace it, £2.50 max. While you are at it replace with a sealed bearing.
You made me laugh when you said, "A sealed bearing has rubber seals that do not allow dirt to get in." Yeah sure, you keep believing it.
@@1pcfred Yes, seals keep lube in and contaminants out. “Arizona Road Dust” or carbon bush dust are fine enough to work its way though but for the most part rubber seals on precision bearings work.
@@teofilstevenson in my experience what rubber seals do is keep contaminants in bearings. Whatever manages to get past the seal gets into a bearing and doesn't come out until you pop the seals and clean the bearing. Sealed for life means the bearing is beat once the seal has been defeated. Not nothing ever gets in the bearing. I mean use your head. The seal wears as the bearing turns. A seal contacts the inner and outer races so the outer stays stationary along with the seal and the inner turns on the seal. It's not going to put up with that forever.
@@1pcfred Hey Mr Wizard, I do use my head and have used it for the 35 yrs I’ve worked for a world class bearing manufacturer. This isn’t the Stone Age, technology has addressed such things.
The problem with greasing up squealing bearings is that the damage is already done. Once they squeal, you've had unlubricated metal on metal contact and wear has taken place. But I suppose for something like a band saw, you'll probably be ok. Not good for things that run for extended periods of time, or even continuously like wheel bearings, air handler motors and bearings, etc.
I usually melt the grease, drop the bearing in and wait until grease resets.
For those who fail to see the point, you can make that grease jig in less time that it takes to hit the hardware store or auto parts house. On top of that you didn't need to blow $10 worth of gas to do it..... and ... you have an exact fit bearing!
2:28 don't you mean "shop smiths are weird"? 😂😂 I love the things don't get me wrong it's just a crazy contraption 😂😂
Now I know how to make 'like new' my roller blade bearings. What a nifty trick! Clever clever!
I was told to disassemble the bearing and pack with grease. Grease can get so old and hard it can damage the bearing. Upon removal of the lock ring & seal, hardened grease can be removed & bearing inspected for gulls, nicks etc. Then repacked with proper lubricant required for F-102 flight controles that I was working on. You really don't want hardened grease messing up you'r day.
Very cool idea using the vacuum to load grease.
Instead of sticking your finger in that paint thinner, put that plastic container up against any vibrating object and let the vibration do the work. I own a nice ultrasonic cleaner but with bearings, along with other things, I use a harsher cleaning agent i don't want in the ultrasonic. I put them into a little plastic cup with the cleaner and hold an electric trimmer to it. The vibration works wonders. Saves product as well given you barely have to cover the object with cleaner so you aren't wasting tons of cleaner to do a small job.
Love the homemade bearing grease jig, that will save time and frustration 👌
Pumping it in seems like a much better idea than trying to suck it through IMHO. If the vacuum can suck the grease into the bearing, it can also suck it out. Pushing it into the bearing will guarantee a much greater amount of grease gets stuck in there.
it doesn’t need that much in. if it’s full of grease, it just gets flung out by centrifugal force when it runs
That looks like a better way than how i do it but if you’re ever lazy, i mix the grease with a solvent and spray it into the bearing. Once the solvent dries the grease is left.
Absolutely brilliant. So simple and clever. Top Job Mate 😀 Cheers from Michael. Australia.
I saw this video a while back and looked it up and found it again. I've got a Grizzly that has those bearing blade guides that I've previously replaced and they've been howling again for a while now. Wondered if your grease technique might work. And it worked! Interesting to see that there was little to no grease in them to begin with. I figure the new grease should have been able to push any old stuff out but there was none. I did do a quick soak in mineral spirits first to get the saw dust and resin off them. Great tip.
Quick tip on that Mobil 1 synthetic grease (almost certain that's what you used because of the color and consistency). Mix it 1:2 with WD-40 marine grease (1 part Mobil 1 synthetic to 2 parts WD-40 marine), 1:1 if you've already bought a ton of it. Both advise NOT to mix them but in my trials on stationary machines, bikes and handheld power tools they both work just fine together. The Mobil 1, on its own, will separate and run all over the place given time but the WD-40 marine has no such problem, in fact, it thickens up the Mobil more than enough to never run. In a confined, sealed, bearing maybe there's no issue but in anything with exposure to the air the Mobil WILL separate and run.
Great info. Thanks. Now I'm looking forward to the video showing the blade wheels, still on the saw, running, being turned/filed down on the sides of the faces to make them crowned. Seems a template would be needed.
So you dabble in DIY a bit and then one day the new neighbours come to say hello and you realise you are outclassed
i think the shop smith tools are pretty cool, id love to hear your opinions on the unit
My hat off to you. Excellent work.
Great idea, the bearings i use are so odd no ones stocks them so this is perfect
We use an old warming pot warm up the grease put bearing in and the grease will flow into the bearing. Only worthwhile on big bearings or bearings that get wet.
best way ive ever seen to pack a skate board bearing
I see all of your videos as soon as I possibly can, there are so many things to learn from both your channels. I´m a woodworker myself, both professionally AND in my sparetime. I got into woodworking 44 years ago but I lack your ingenuity and maybe I have a challenge I think you would be the only one that can pull of. When you search youtube for an automatic bolt or screw sorting machine theres like 15 examples and none of them are attractive to me. The few examples are either factory made, too enourmes in size, demands to much manuel hand involvement or they only sort them by lenght. I was thinking more of a maschine, that sorted them in length AND diameter. That would realy be something. It doesn't have to be for both bolts AND screws - that would of course be fun if it could be done, but length and diameter is sufficient to me. How about it Matthias? Challenge accepted?
The vacuum trick is pretty clever
Cool in a pinch. If they're standard bearings though, a few bucks to replace them if you know where to source. I've even bought some NSK bearings direct from the warehouse for just a few dollars, the markups in the store were huge. $30 for a $4-5 bearing etc.
Interestingly, bearings usually aren't packed FULL of grease, as this can actually pop them open, they are kind of half-full of grease in most cases. Just enough to lube the ball bearings and races, but not enough to over-pressurize them during operation.
not standard bearings
Second method is the one I've always used. Wood is cheap and easy.
Edit: I do like the vacuum tho... A little more prep but less waste and mess. I guess if you got a few to do, rigging up the vac is the way to go, especially if they're all different.
I really like this method. :) Thanks for sharing this neat tip.
What a huge difference!
Great video. I have the same bandsaw and the same squealing.
I always love learning something new, called dad to teach him about this ty!
Love your "make a jig" approach!
Absolutely brilliant idea
That way of cleaning and re-greasing was impressive! I usually remove one of the shields, clean the bearing, lubricate it and re-install the shield - this way is much simpler and leaves no marks on the shields. I should have thought of that years ago :-)
That it is... and less mess.
We place the bearing in a large syringe. We fill the syringe with alcohol or kerosene. We expel the air. We extend the piston, create a vacuum. Air bubbles in the bearing, expanding, displace the old grease, and while shrinking, they replace it with kerosene. Then the kerosene is drained, the syringe is filled with grease and the piston movements are repeated, filling the bearing with fresh grease.
that's gotta be a big syringe