You'll need two tools, Lucas: a puller and a refrigerator.

The puller, three jaw like this one, will come in handy from time to time. And you really need it now.

The little fingers grip the backside of the pulley and as you turn the fine-threaded shaft, the axle is slowly, and evenly, pushed out.

Clean up the axle part and put it in the freezer. You want to shrink that shaft down so it will slide right into the new bearing.

That's all there is to it. You'll have your bearing merit badge before the next tea at the Empress Hotel.

Kindly,

Lee

 

Did it have a clip that you removed? If so push the bearing back down and use a little of sand paper to sand off any burs. Put a little WD40 or 3 in 1 on let it penetrate. You may have cocked the bearing. It will walk off. Push the shaft back down and if it still don't want to move persuade it gently. Make sure before you put the new bearing on that the shaft is clean and smooth.

 

Lee said it all, the only thing I can add, is if you do not want to purchase a puller you may be able to talk a brake shop into pull the baring off for you. I would purchase the puller. In fact, HF has a complete set of pullers at a reasonable price.

 

Hi all,

MRG - no there was no clip. I kept looking around for something that needed to be loosened, removed, screwed, etc…nothing.

Looks like I'll be buying myself a puller to get the job done - I'll let you all know if it worked. I hope so because I already have a bunch of replacement bearings lined up! Definitely beats having to buy a whole new unit.

Thanks for the tips everyone!
Luc

 

Lucas, that one will be a press fit onto that eccentric shaft. Small bearings like that are easy to drive off with a suitable punch or mandrel. Simply stand it up in the jaws of a vise so the jaw edges contact the outer rim of the bearing and use a hammer to drive it out. Put a washer or similar bit of metal between the shaft end and the punch to protect the face.
To put the new bearing on you need to be sure not to damage it so you should support the underside of that flange either with a steel tube , or a socket or the vise jaws again but don't tighten them on the shaft. Then the bearing is tapped on but you need to use a tube of some sort like a socket again that fits over the shaft and contacts the inner race ring of that bearing only-you shouldn't apply any force to the outer ring of the bearing.
Again, for small bearings in that sort of application I just drift them on with a piece of brass of similar diameter to that inner ring.
Pullers etc are often essential but not in every case. A useful thing to know is that bearings that can't be moved with pullers (for various reasons) are easily cut off with something like a small angle grinder or even a Dremel. Outer races /rings of standard ball bearings just fall off when you have punched or picked out the two rivetted spacer washers…..

 

A drill press often works great as a bearing press. Get a socket, as Phillip suggests, put it on an extension bar, into the drill press chuck. Clamp/brace the shaft vertical on the table, and press the bearing onto it.

You can sometimes do it without the socket, by using the just jaws of the chuck - depends on the size of the jaws, the size + length of the shaft, etc.

 

I just had this problem when the face on the old top rear guide bearing broke off while sawing hard maple which put a lot of pressure on it. I tried the method of sitting the bearing on the lips of a metal vice and tapping out the shaft with a punch. It worked like a charm. Problem was that the shaft dropped out of sight because I did not have the foresight to put something under it to catch it as it dropped away! It took me a half hour to find it.