14 1/2" Spindle Bearings

Rogue Willie · Dec 9, 2017

Ever since I got my lathe about 2 years ago, I have known that the bearing adjustment was questionable. I pulled the caps off a couple days ago and found out that a previous owner had apparently pulled the caps without releasing the expanders. Both bearings no longer have material for the expanders to grab on to.
Anyone know where I can find a set of small journal bearings? I checked with [email protected] and he doesn't have any.
Thanks.

moonlight machine · Dec 9, 2017

Rogue Willie said:
Ever since I got my lathe about 2 years ago, I have known that the bearing adjustment was questionable. I pulled the caps off a couple days ago and found out that a previous owner had apparently pulled the caps without releasing the expanders. Both bearings no longer have material for the expanders to grab on to.
Anyone know where I can find a set of small journal bearings? I checked with [email protected] and he doesn't have any.
Thanks.

Well you have a lathe, make them.

kitno455 · Dec 9, 2017

I bet you could make a slightly oversized expander pretty easily, or maybe enlarge your existing ones with a bit of hammer work. Or, solder a little bit of shim stock to them to make them wider.

allan

iwananew10K · Dec 9, 2017

pics always help.

Rogue Willie · Dec 11, 2017

Front bearing showing dovetail completely pulled out and damage on bottom side from debris.

Rogue Willie · Dec 11, 2017

Rear bearing with displaced material and embedded chip on bottom. Shims are dirty and corroded from "loose" bearing caps.

Rogue Willie · Dec 30, 2017

I decided to make new bearings and expanders.

I still need to make up new shim stacks.

jpevner · Dec 30, 2017

People on the forum might be interested in the process you used to make the bearings.

regards,
Jon P.

iwananew10K · Dec 31, 2017

nice job!!

Rogue Willie · Jan 1, 2018

Making the bearings was pretty straight forward. I measured the spindle journals and allowed .002" clearance for the bearing bores. I made the ODs of the bearings .001" under the nominal diameter of the bearing housing. I started with bearing bronze stock purchased from McMaster. I machined all the lathe features while holding on to the extra stock to insure concentricity between the ID and OD. For the mill work I held the bearing in a vise with the bearing centerline perpendicular to the vise jaws. I milled the split and used a 60 deg dovetail cutter until I got a loose fit with the expanders.

Rogue Willie · Jan 4, 2018

Headstock rebuild is complete. Ran it for about 15 minutes with no noticeable temperature change. Haven't taken a cut yet but I am satisfied with the outcome.

Greg White · Jan 5, 2018

very nice work sir
Gw

SLK001 · Mar 13, 2020

Rogue Willie said:
I started with bearing bronze stock purchased from McMaster.

I was thinking about how the bearings were originally made and how I would make them if I had to. My thoughts were to start with a flat sheet of bronze, then roll/press that around a form. My thought was that the spindle and the housing would make everything conform properly. Most of the features in the bearings could be machined before rolling, but I would leave the dovetail machining for once the bearings were round (and held in a fixture).

I never thought about machining them from a piece of solid stock, because of the expense. I would think that SB wouldn't have done that either. I'm NOT criticizing your work - you had a problem and you successfully solved it (and did beautiful work, too). I once considered making these bearings, but the cost of bronze made the risk/reward equation tilt to the too risky side.

pavt · Mar 14, 2020

SLK001 said:
I never thought about machining them from a piece of solid stock, because of the expense. I would think that SB wouldn't have done that either. I'm NOT criticizing your work - you had a problem and you successfully solved it (and did beautiful work, too). I once considered making these bearings, but the cost of bronze made the risk/reward equation tilt to the too risky side.

Could always use an annular cutter in the tailstock to rough cut it, that way you're not wasting all that bronze. You get to keep the slugs and bore out the shells.

SLK001 · Mar 14, 2020

pavt said:
Could always use an annular cutter in the tailstock to rough cut it, that way you're not wasting all that bronze. You get to keep the slugs and bore out the shells.

That's what I would have done with a solid piece - core out useful material from the center using a standard hole cutter (cut from both ends). I don't know what the two sizes are, but maybe the core from the front bearing could be used for the back.

Rogue Willie · Mar 14, 2020

The bearing bronze comes in various sizes of tubing. Just get something close to what you need.

garyphansen · Mar 21, 2020

Did you use cored bronze?

Rogue Willie · Mar 22, 2020

garyphansen said:
Did you use cored bronze?

Yes, purchased from McMaster- Carr

rocketmench · Sep 22, 2022

Rogue Willie said:
I decided to make new bearings and expanders.
View attachment 216585

I still need to make up new shim stacks.
View attachment 216586
View attachment 216587

I also have a 14.5 with damaged bearings. Would you be able to share any drawings or dimensions you used to make yours? Thank you.

Rogue Willie · Sep 22, 2022

rocketmench said:
I also have a 14.5 with damaged bearings. Would you be able to share any drawings or dimensions you used to make yours? Thank you.

Sorry but I don't have any drawings or sketches. I took the dimensions from the original bearings as best I could. The bearing ID would be the shaft plus clearance. The OD was a little trickier to guess at.

14 1/2" Spindle Bearings

Aluminum

Diamond

Titanium

Diamond

Aluminum

Aluminum

Aluminum

Stainless

Diamond

Aluminum

Aluminum

Titanium

Stainless

Stainless

Stainless

Aluminum

Titanium

Aluminum

Plastic

Aluminum

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