[RustedOut]

Decided it is time to re-grease the spindle bearings on my 4+ year old IH mill. Spindle is starting to make some noise. I guess my mill was one of the better ones as I've not done anything to the spindle or gear box to this point other than an oil change. Also pulled the top off of the gear box to inspect inside it. Pretty clean in there. This will be the second oil change for the gear box.

But now that the spindle/quill is out, I've got a question. How do I get the spindle out of the bearings? The bearings are in the quill pretty tight and are tight to the spindle as well. I don't have a press, but it would seem to me that pressing against the one bearing wouldn't be the thing to do unless I change it. There's no way to get to the back side of the bearing cups and nothing to grip to on the outside. Any hints? I've read that some just slide out but that ain't happening with this spindle.

Guess I could just grease them from the outside, but I'd like to do a better job than that. If I have to change one, I'll most likely change both with other than made in china bearings.

Bob

[HuFlungDung]

It probably would not take much of a press to take it apart. Using a press (even an arbor press for light duty work) is better than beating on it with a hammer.

If the spindle has a hole right through, enough to pass a length of threaded rod through, you might be able to pull it out with an imaginative pile of spacers and rings and a piece of pipe.

[arizonavideo]

I have not had to do it yet but a long piece of thread rod with just the right size washer on the top and a spacer on the bottom might work. It would be best if you turn one to fit the spindle.

Block it against the outside of the lower part of the quill.

[Cruiser]

I've done this many times, and it is usually quite easy. First be sure that the ring is threaded off of the bottom of the quil, it has holes and spanner holes, just use a punch and loose it and spin it out. Then loose the lock ring that holds the nut, take it off. Now using a soft mallet, hold quil on side and bump end of spindle till it frees up from the top bearing and dislodges bottom bearing and comes out. These stock bearings are quite stout and a bit of knocking won't harm them. But, don't use a hard hammer on top of spindle as it is iron, not steel, and will deform quite easily. If they are really stubborn to release a brass mallet may be in order of use.

[RustedOut]

I don't know why I wasn't thinking of using all thread as I've done that many times on other things, but sure wasn't coming to mind yesterday. But I did as suggested with the all thread and a hardened washer under each nut. Didn't come loose what I'd call easily, but finally popped, then slid out. Pretty good fit there in my opinion. The lower bearing was darn near dry, but the upper had some grease left in it. Bearings cleaned up nice, so I packed them and re-used them. Tightened the preload nut back to the original washer tang, so hope that works out. Should be good for a while. Still run the original motor for now so rpm's are slow.

While the gear box cover is off, I found a loose pin in the Hi-Low shifter. About ready to fall out. Matter of fact I pulled it out with just my fingers. I measured it at just under 3mm and the hole in the fork and brass shoe at right at 3mm or a hair over, so ordered a few 3mm roll pins. They are actually slightly over size, so hoping that will fix it. If so, that will be a cheap enough fix, if not there's more work to be done there.

Bob

[jetflatline]

Before I go and break something -- how does one get the bearings out of the head block? I remember having a bearing puller around here somewhere, but it works on the outer side of the bearing, not the inner.

[RustedOut]

Before I go and break something -- how does one get the bearings out of the head block? I remember having a bearing puller around here somewhere, but it works on the outer side of the bearing, not the inner.

Are you talking about the bearing cup, or race? As tight as my spindle bearings fit to the spindle, I'd either make something to pull them out from the backside of the cup or modify a puller I already own. I think I could make it pretty much on my lathe, but I have a buddy with a bridgeport just in case.

Maybe a steel disk with three holes in the side and a threaded hole in the middle. Turn the disk to just fit through the cup and in the three holes stick some steel rod that can be slid or pushed out to rest on the back of the cup. Then another disk big enough to cover the end of the quill with a hole through the middle. Install some all thread between the two and start pulling. Aluminum may work ok for the disks. I believe they are a light press fit, so it shouldn't take much.

Don't believe I'd try bumping them out like I've done on my vehicles. But from what I've read over the years about these mills, most of the spindle bearings weren't that tough to get out. Mine even went back together hard, but it has no end play and turns freely.

Are you going to replace them with new? If so, what bearings did you get to replace them?

Bob

[RustedOut]

My roll pins showed up this morning and it was an easy fix for the shifter fork. While I had it apart that far. I removed the gears, bearings and seals and power washed the inside of the gear box. Now all back together and working fine. Quiet as the day it was new...but that's not very quiet. I also got rid of the clumsy quill lock handle on the left hand side of the head. Now has a cap screw taking it's place. Just need to tram it and I'm back in business.

Bob

[RustedOut]

So, a month and a half later, the mill won't run in high gear again. Have some small parts to make before I intended to pull the top plate off and measure the spindle drive gear for belt drive conversion hub candidate. Think it's a key issue on the motor shaft. My motor shaft has been chipped on the end for some time, discovered it the last time I had to remove the motor.

So, I'll get it fixed and running tonight most likely, but while I had the top plate and drive gear removed as a unit, I tried to remove the gear from the bearing(s) in the top plate. Nothing doing! By the looks of it, it should just press out, but it won't budge. I got the exposed lower portion measured, but really need the top part measured too. I just don't see anything holding it in, other than the fit to the bearing. Am I missing something, man this thing is tight. Don't want to break anything.

Bob

[ksanalytical]

I pulled my gear box apart a few months ago due to increasing noise and heat. The problem I found was interesting. It turns out that when the Chinese press the bearings onto the gear shafts, they use some type of fixture and a large press. Large enough that it didn't slow down when they put in a shaft that hadn't been properly sized. It shaved a circular ring of metal all the way down the shaft. This essentially used the bearings inner race as a cutting tool. The force was more than it could bear and it cracked. I think this had been the case since day one.

The bearing eventually locked up completely and spun in the top plate. Repairing it required an oversized bearing and boring out the pocket. This left a fairly minimal side wall, so I cleaned everything thoroughly, drills some shallow, angled holes to give the filler a little more bite and filled in one of the casting reliefs with JB weld. So far it seems to run much cooler and quieter, but I haven't run it much since then.

One critical thing the remember is that the counter-shaft right next to the spindle itself spins at twice the RPM of the spindle. This is the bearing I lost and I suspect many others have too. I replaced them all with sealed "permanently lubricated"
bearings, but wouldn't necessarily recommend that as the upper ones likely get splashed with enough oil to keep cool.

Ken