Belt Sander - Idler drum bearings

[bobgroh]

Continuing to get familiar with my 'new' SS Mark V Model 510 and the SPT's that came with it. Just spent some quality time with the 6" belt sander - cleaned it up, poked around inside, re-assembled and fired it up. This has led to 2 questions I would like to ask the 'experts' out there:

1. The idler drum, when unloaded and spun by hand, rotates with out any catches or glitches but it certainly seems a bit stiff. When you spin it, the spin dies out pretty quick (less than a 1/4 revolution). Whereas the drive drum, when spun, spins easily and keeps spinning for several revolutions. So my question: is it normal for the idler drum to rotate 'stiffly'?

2. The sliding part of the idler drum (i.e. sliding in the two side frames) is a bit sticky. I tried to clean out all the old sawdust etc but maybe I should pull the side frames apart and do a more thorough job. Any comments on this?

The belt sander seems to work ok so maybe this all is normal. Thanks for your time and expertise.

Bob Groh, Kansas City area.

[cincinnati]

Have you seen the video Nick did with the belt sander tune-up? Nick talks about the problems you are experiencing.

http://www.shopsmithacademy.com/SS_Arch ... Tuneup.htm

[a1gutterman]

Have you seen the video Nick did with the belt sander tune-up? Nick talks about the problems you are experiencing.

http://www.shopsmithacademy.com/SS_Archives/SS112/SS112_Belt_Sander_Tuneup.htm

My thoughts exactly, cin! What a great source of information that SS, via Nick, Drew and the rest of their crew, has given us!

[bobgroh]

Thanks for the suggestion to look at the SawDust Session. I had forgotten about that one and it is dead on to my problem. Lubrication of those bearings is not mentioned in the manual but I will certainly dig into the sander this afternoon. Hopefully avoiding any problems! Like plumbing - you are never sure what you will find or how it will turn out (I usually rate my plumbing tasks by how many trips I need to take to the hardware store to get all the stuff!!).

Regarding the Sawdust Sessions - they are great! I'm selling my older SS Mark V to my son-in-law and have turned him on to the SS site and Sawdust Sessions as a great resource.

Bob Groh, Kansas City area

[bobgroh]

I spent a quality afternoon - first watching the Sawdust session on maintenance and then trying it. I pretty much followed Nick's process with the following changes:

1. I completely removed the drive drum because I wanted to get all the sawdust out. Cleaned up the bearings, vacuumed out all the dust and then reinstalled everything.

2. I went ahead and pulled the shaft completely out of the idler drum. Nick did it by accident - I just jumped over the 'accident' part - pulled the spring up with a nail set past the end of the shaft and rotated it a bit to lock it out of the way. Then slid the cam and washer off the end and then pulled the shaft all the way out. That enabled me to clean the shaft and thoroughly lube it as well as examine it before reinstalling it. I also cleaned the inside of the bushings. Even easier than trying to work on the shaft while holding off the spring tension. Thoroughly recommend doing that way.

3. By taking it apart, I also had a chance to clean up the two way tubes - get corrosion off and wax the beejabers out of it.

My idler drum shaft is pretty heavily worn and eventually I will probably want to send it in to have new bearings pressed into the drum and a new shaft added. But for now it is lubricated, cleaned up and everything put back together. Thanks for everyone's help.

Bob Groh, Kansas City area