Comet II spindle seems fused to bearings

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Manonamission

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Apr 19, 2016
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4
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Florida
After almost 6 years with my Comet II lathe I finally had to change the belt as it cracked. My spindle is fused to the bearings and won't budge. Any ideas on a solution?
 
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TonyL

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Mar 9, 2014
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replaced my bearings twice on my 1221. they might as well have been fused given how hard i had to hit the spindle to remove it. i probably would have given up if i knew that spindles can fuse to bearings. In my case they were not fused...so first be sure they aren't just difficult to remove. Jet set me a new spindle anyway even though I wasn't sure if i needed one. While the next sentence has nothing to do with your post, my problem wasn't the bearings ( I kept hearing a clicking noise). It was actually two loose set screws on the handwheel. Would have save me a lot of "pain" had I know that was the source of the clicking. Good luck!
 

randyrls

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Feb 2, 2006
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Harrisburg, PA 17112
Lathe Manufacturers often make the spindle oversize for the bearings. Reason: Loose spindle means an out-of-spec run out and a discarded head stock. So they make the spindle slightly oversize and use a hydraulic ram to press the bearings onto the spindle. Makes it a B****** to get spindle out.

I would call Teknatool first. Ask them on which end the spindle comes out

You can remove the spindle; I've done this on my metal lathe. These two photos show how I pulled the spindle out. The PVC is a coupling I used to "stand-off" the end where the spindle came out. But this is my metal lathe, so yours will be slightly different.
pulling the spindle shaft.jpg
pulling the spindle shaft.jpg
nose end of the improvised spindle puller sm.jpg
 

howsitwork

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Joined
Jul 9, 2016
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Thirsk
After almost 6 years with my Comet II lathe I finally had to change the belt as it cracked. My spindle is fused to the bearings and won't budge. Any ideas on a solution?

Call Teknatool but maybe consider using a joined belt , unless it's a ribbed belt , sorry I don't know that lathe.
 

Manonamission

Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2016
Messages
4
Location
Florida
Thank you all for the help. I'm going to call them tomorrow morning. I followed all the steps and it just won't budge. Even wailed on it a few times with a block of wood and a heavy mallet and got nowhere. Very frustrating.
 

MiteyF

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Joined
Jan 27, 2018
Messages
187
Location
Bay area
Heat is your friend when removing stuck bearings. Most tolerances for bearing fits are around +/- 0.0005" on housings (bearing OD fit) and even less for journals (bearing ID fits). A small amount of well placed heat on either the housing or bearing itself will usually give you the space you need to disassemble or reassemble.
 
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