Replacing the bearings on the drive sleeve

cityslicker2 · Post by **cityslicker2** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 9:15 pm

Hey folks - my first post. I have a Mark V 1982 vintage that I bought used and I've been using for about 18 months. After watching Nick's sawdust segments on checking out used machines I decided to take my headstock apart. I found that I need to replace both bearings on the drive sleeve and I will also upgrade to the double bearing quill. Question - I ordered the bearings for the drive sleeve from SS. How are others removing and replacing these bearings? I have a gear puller and tried that on one of them and it wasn't budging? Any suggestions - should I find someone with a press or dedicated bearing puller? Thanks! Steve

RobertTaylor · Post by **RobertTaylor** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 4:45 pm

i've had good luck getting them off with a split type bearing puller in conjunction with a staight type gear/pulley puller. i use a socket that just clears the shaft and presses against the inner bearing race to press the new bearings on in a machinists vise. never press against the outer race or the covered side of your new bearings as you might damage them. bob

cityslicker2 · Post by **cityslicker2** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 9:34 am

Thanks Bob! I don't have a bearing splitter but may be able to borrow one. I can see where a splitter would help due to the limited clearance between the bearings and the sleeve for the belt. I also thought I could just see a split ring hard against the bearing on the quill end of the drive sleeve so I guess you have to be careful not to pull against that. Thanks again for the suggestion. Steve

cityslicker2 · Post by **cityslicker2** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 8:21 pm

Eureka! I just got my headstock back together and on my SS. Did a tear down and complete cleaning; replaced both bearings on the drive sleeve, and put a new two bearing quill on, in addition to replacing the wedge locks. After having to reorder my re-assembly a couple of times so that I put it back together in the right order it runs as slick as Nick's. I used a couple of 18" long 1x's and rope to compress the spring on the movable motor sheeve. By already having two lengths of rope knotted in loops the right length to hold the top board (the one with the hole to go over the motor shaft) to the bottom board under the headstock I was able to push down on the top board, put one rope at a time over the ends of the boards while holding down the top board to keep the spring compressed. Once I had both ropes on, it was a simple matter to put the snap ring back in place to secure the spring.

A friend with a press helped me pull the old bearings off and press on the new ones. I noticed that my drive sleeve is one that has an allen screw in the center portion of the drive and after removing one of the bearings we loosened the locking allen screw and slid the center of the drive sleeve over enough to get the arms of the gear puller over the other bearing.

This experience did help to much better understand the inner workings of the headstock and made me appreciate the engineering and craftsmanship of the machine. If I can help others with questions about this procedure I would be more than happy to do so. Steve

RobertTaylor · Post by **RobertTaylor** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 3:34 pm

great job steve. nothing like hands on experience. that along with information obtained here is how i learned. i'm going to modify my son's '56 model 500 this weekend to make it easier to maintain.

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 8:51 pm

Steve (cityslicker) Your success is good to read! Congrats! Now you are on the road. (you know,- the road to sawdust!)