Shopsmith Forums

I did the 2 bearing quill upgrade a couple years back and it is like having a new machine , it eliminated the shaft wobble and seems to be well balanced now , it was not cheap but I feel it added years to the machine , not including the safety factor when using the MKV as a lathe . I dont recall it being that much back then . jmo good luck .

Hobbyman2 wrote: ↑Wed Jul 06, 2022 11:08 am I did the 2 bearing quill upgrade a couple years back and it is like having a new machine , it eliminated the shaft wobble and seems to be well balanced now , it was not cheap but I feel it added years to the machine , not including the safety factor when using the MKV as a lathe . I dont recall it being that much back then . jmo good luck .

It seems like it would have been a logical step. I need to get a pair to match the one in the quill, contract a machine shop to tend to the bore to match the bearing and no other parts?

If I recall didn't have to make any mods to make the change .

Hobbyman2 wrote: ↑Sat Jul 09, 2022 9:31 pm If I recall didn't have to make any mods to make the change .

That's probably right. The older Gilmer drives need to be modified to use the OEM two-bearing quill because of the different splines, dimensions, etc. So a sheave, a belt, a drive sleeve, and a Drive and Ring are required to first modify the Gilmer/Greenie up to Poly-V. Your machine was likely already a Poly-V, no mods needed.

- David

I ordered all new parts, the Gilmer I am going to bench it seems.

I did pull the bearings from the Jointer today, they were USA made bearings and I was able to cross it by size over to a Bocca Bearing.
I was walking through the shop and noticed a spare Screen Print press part that I have from one I scrapped. It had 2 bearings that that simply align a stop that sets between them. They are a perfect match when I looked up the specs and measured them.

Any chance you want to share the Becca bearing numbers for the jointer

Fergit/ignore brand part # go by dimensions, seals/shields etc..

JPG wrote: ↑Sun Aug 14, 2022 8:00 pm Fergit/ignore brand part # go by dimensions, seals/shields etc..

I agree with jpg, you can go by dimensions verse a brand. This is what Bocca Bearing offers on their site, they have the ability for you to put your dimensions into their web site and it was show you all the options (brands) that they offer in their site for sale. This allows you to look over the brands and where they are made, to order what you want.

However, many times I use the part number on the bearing and the brand conversion charts to find other options as well. Bocca and other web sites offer this as well.
http://www.callahanbearing.com/6200INT-1.pdf

the 77503/6203ZZ bearing in the 3/4 horse motor cross reference to the 203SS bearing. The ZZ and SS are the manufactures ID for the Steel Bearing Seal for each brand. The Cross Reference Charts also indicate the bearing sizing which in the case is 17 40 12, metric in the case.

The 203SS can be gotten at the O'Rilley's Auto Part store for 14 bucks. Most parts store can also cross reference the bearing number for you.