Delta/Rockwell Table Saw Arbor Bearings

If you don’t know how old or what condition the ones in there now are in, replace them. It’s easy to do and cheap insurance against future damage. And it’s easiest to replace them all at the same time while you have things apart.

Cheers,
Brad

-- Brad in FL - In Dog I trust... everything else is questionable

When I purchased a used Unisaw I changed both plus the belts(3), if you are going through the trouble of doing the motor, I would to the arbor. You can probably do that yourself, I did. The unisaw did not require them to be pressed on, the motor did. For the motor, I took it apart and took it to a local motor shop it was $70 vs $200 for a motor rebuild.

-- Rich LI, Life is short, buy more tools !

Thanks for the replies guys.
It took a while for my topic to get posted (I guess since I’m new). So in my impatience, I already changed the bearings on the motor. Plus, replaced the old cord. The motor bearings were pretty straight forward.
The arbor bearings are from 1961. So yea – pretty old. They didn’t make any noises and there didn’t seem to be much (if any) play. But at over 50 years old, I assume the grease has seen better days. I tried to coax the seals off the bearings so that I could potentially regrease them instead of removing them. But, I couldn’t get the seals off without potentially damaging them. So, the decision was made to replace them.
So far, I have removed the old arbor beatings. But, I will say this – it’s been more difficult than the motor bearings. If I had the correct pullers and drifts, it wouldn’t be too bad. But, I’ve been having to make up some tools to aid in the process.
I’ll probably have no problem getting the one bearing on the arbor shaft. But, pushing the other one into the arbor housing on the blade side is going to be tricky. I don’t have any sockets that match the OD of the bearing. So, I’m going to have to think on that one a little.

Getting these bearings onto the arbor is proving difficult. I wish I had access to an arbor press. But, I don’t.
I tried freezing the arbor and heating the bearing. But, it was still too tight to easily push on. Maybe tomorrow I’ll try heating up the bearing a little more. I didn’t heat the bearing all that much this time.

Shouldn’t need much more than an appropriate sized pipe and a wooden mallet or similar. I hate doing the freeze/heat thing as it causes condensation which can cause problems.

Funny side note: I was looking at the parts diagram for that saw over at the ereplacementparts site, and noticed that they have the bearings for it listed at $49.89!! Not sure what you get for that much green, but the picture shows a pretty generic no-name 6203-2RS bearing. Last time I bought 6203’s, they were around $3 a piece for some quality Nachi bearings. Buyer beware!

Cheers,
Brad

-- Brad in FL - In Dog I trust... everything else is questionable

I’ve used this shop made unit for pressing on dozens of bearings on motors and arbors. I make up hardwood blocks to the sizes I need for pressing on the inner or outer races as req’d.

Hey Brad,
The bearings for this guy are 88503’s. They are similar to 6203’s except they have extended inner races. I guess you could make the 6203’s work with spacers on either side.

I like that Mike – pretty flexible.

The bearings for this guy are 88503’s. They are similar to 6203’s except they have extended inner races.
- skess

LOL – 88503’s were $8 a piece last time I ordered some from Accurate Bearing ;)

I’m just amazed at how much these guys can get for off the shelf stuff just because an OEM name is stamped on the box. $50 for $8 bearings is just one example. If you look at the parts available for that saw over at the ereplacement site, you find dozens of examples of standard hardware store items (nuts, bolts, washers, etc…) being sold as if they were made of gold.

Cheers,
Brad

-- Brad in FL - In Dog I trust... everything else is questionable

Brad,
I agree – it’s insane.

I took a look at that site. After I saw the $3 washer and the $4 hex nut, I had had enough.