And the winner for "Dumbest Use of a Needle Bearing" goes to...

[spro]

"Gouda" like gouda-nuff I've been following this and the original situation was totally unnecessary. Why not seals in the first place to save this aggravation? People have been saying it is intentional for a long time. I have a portable belt sander and the tension drum would squeal. It has a broader oilite bushing so it shuts up with some oil and the bushing is replaceable. My small shop-vac is apart now for a similar reason. The top motor bearing is suspended by a detachable U-frame. This would be great for a sealed bearing but what did they do ? They used sintered bushing with grease packed around it. The retaining cap, facing the motor cooling fan has holes. I think the motor heat was to supposed to warm the grease and that would help it lube the bushing/ shaft contact. The reality is that the grease melted, turned to tar coating the fan blades and the bushing ran dry.

[ctwo]

Reminds me why I built a small machine shop.

[warmstrong1955]

It's a price driven market all too much.....sadly.
A lot of old manufacturers have fallen to the dark side, but there are some left that still make real good heavy duty tools.
Rigid comes to mind, Greenlee....Hilti....

Sounds like SKIL....is not one of the good guys anymore. I have a genuine SKIL skilsaw that I bought over 35 years ago. Big bad worm drive. It's outlasted newer ones, including two Craftsmans, and a couple of Black & Deckers. If it ever does die.....I don't think I'll replace it with a SKIL.


Bill

[spro]

Same here, Bill. There was a time I repaired old B&D drills, stuff and have lots of housings/parts for doing that. Some were dang near indestructible except for brushes, bearing and switch. Except for really old ones, few are unique enough to take the time anymore. The same drill my grand dad used and passed to 2 generations, is the same drill one can find on ebay now. Unless someone knows how some of these were built, they have no use for them. Remember those portable stands to make a drill press powered by hand drill? It doesn't make sense anymore but the old ones with thrust bearings, smaller more accurate chucks and solid frames actually served hobbiests for awhile. Not everyone had a drill press and this was step to know how good a drill press could be.
So everyone can have a drill press and everyone can by a new shop vac for less than $30.00. I coulda had a new shop vac for the price of that one "U" mount with the same flakey bearing. The whole thing could go into the trash and not take up space. I found one bearing in my stash which Could replace the original but it is double row and too tall. That bearing probably cost twice as much as the shop vac once.

[warmstrong1955]

Here ya go Spro....something you no longer see....

Made where?

[ccfl]

The axle is dead simple, straight 12mm OD with two little circlip grooves at the outboard ends, and a flat on one end for anti-rotation. It could be made even more simpler by leaving a head on one end to eliminate one circlip groove. The original axle's made of real metal (just not hardened). If I reuse it I'll polish it up so that the new bearings are an easy slip fit and make sure they are located to run on an unworn section of shaft. A tight fit on the axle is unnecessary (they will be press fit into the drum plus maybe Loctite, hey why not), load is always in the same direction and end float/side play between the bracket ears will be taken care of with homemade spacers (something the original design(???) also lacked). All of it is an easy fix, I simply need to stop getting distracted by other stuff and get the lathe put back together...

This was a ~$100 machine, that's all SKIL does anymore. The only thing lower down the pole is whatever Harbor Freight's house brand is. In some cases the HF equivalents are better quality for less money.

My #3375 has been replaced by a new model, #3376. Completely different from top to bottom so I have no idea if the new one has the same flaws or if they came up with some new and innovative flaws to keep things interesting.


Growing up, Dad had a jigsaw (I think it was SKIL, though could have been B&D...) with a ROTATING HEAD! Meaning you could press a button and spin the blade around 360* and lock it in any position. That thing was a tank and I'm sure that wherever it is today it's still working just fine. Changing blades was a pain , though.

[spro]

Hey. Best going to you. +++++

[ccfl]

Or it could have been a Craftsman, slim chance though. I did a quick ebay scan and don't see anything that rings a bell. It had a black phenolic/Bakelite housing, and if I am remembering right the knob-thing on top was a rounded off square, my brain wants to call it a 'pommel' for some reason. All the Craftsman saws I see have a round knob with a serrated band.

[warmstrong1955]

Or it could have been a Craftsman....

I'd bet on the Craftsman. My Dad had A Craftsman jigsaw with a knob on it like your talkin' about. He used to do a lot of woodworking, and had a lot of Craftsman stuff back when it was quality stuff.
My Brother-In-Law still has that saw.

Bill

Edit....
Pick a pic off fleaBay. This is what my Dad's looked like....been a few years since I've seen it though....
Newer ones had a Bakelite housing.

[spro]

They called it a "swing saw" because blade was behind the driving shaft. Yes good thing but most the time it was locked straight ( for those who didn't know why it had that feature) . I have one and will say the foot or base bends. It bends because there is the large opening at the fore foot for the blade to swing. Harried homeowner just thinks it is junk when the base isn't flat.

[spro]

The fore foot was not supposed bend yet does. The side bends allow a reinforcement which only exists while the base has integrity.
Now back to win 10 and texting from a burger ap.

[John Hasler]

...Delrin (oil impregnated nylon).

Delrin is DuPont's brand of acetal (polyoxymethylene). You're thinking of Oilon and similar.