Bridgeport table bearing bracket stuck

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Duder321
Posts: 85
Joined: Sat Mar 02, 2013 9:32 am
Location: Indianapolis

Bridgeport table bearing bracket stuck

Post by Duder321 »

I'm trying to remove the right side bearing bracket so I can install a power feed unit. It won't come off. I think I remember it just sliding off the end of the screw when I disassembled it to move a few years ago. Took the handle and dials off, the spacer and key, and then unbolted the 4 cap screws from the bracket.

The bracket starts to slide away from the table and about 1" away it acts like it hits a hard stop. I have to tap lightly with a plastic hammer to move it back toward the table. Am I missing something or doing something wrong? Any ideas on what to do next if I'm not?

Thanks,
Dan
John Evans
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Location: Phoenix ,AZ

Re: Bridgeport table bearing bracket stuck

Post by John Evans »

Should just slide off ,check for a burr at the keyway slot.
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Duder321
Posts: 85
Joined: Sat Mar 02, 2013 9:32 am
Location: Indianapolis

Re: Bridgeport table bearing bracket stuck

Post by Duder321 »

Ok. That's what I thought.

It doesn't even get to the key. An inch of movement only before it stops. When it is in place, everything I can see or touch on the leadscrew is smooth and burr free. Which that means something got in between the bearing center spacer and the leadscrew. I can't imagine how.
John Evans
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Location: Phoenix ,AZ

Re: Bridgeport table bearing bracket stuck

Post by John Evans »

Look very carefully at the diameter change from bearing bore dia. to the smaller dia. where the dial etc. fits. Take a fine file to the larger area of that step and dress it down a bit. I think somehow that the OD of that step has gotten swollen up a bit.
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Duder321
Posts: 85
Joined: Sat Mar 02, 2013 9:32 am
Location: Indianapolis

Re: Bridgeport table bearing bracket stuck

Post by Duder321 »

Thanks for the comments John. I got it off. No disturbances in the surfaces so somehow the relationship between the bearing, which was new when I last had it apart, and the step on the shaft changed. I ended up screwing the right bracket back into the table, moving way over to part of the lead screw that doesn't get used, unbolting the left side bracket, locked the table, and then used the left handle and screw to gently pull itself free of the bearing. That seemed safer than beating or prying. The spacer sleeve for the power feed slid right on the screw so I think the replacement bearing (factory part from HW) must have been the cause of the problem.
John Evans
Posts: 2366
Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2009 9:33 pm
Location: Phoenix ,AZ

Re: Bridgeport table bearing bracket stuck

Post by John Evans »

I used a similar method to get a stubborn Y axis nut out of the table bracket,used the screw as a puller. a bigger hammer often is not the best tool !!
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John Hasler
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Joined: Tue Dec 06, 2016 4:05 pm
Location: Elmwood, Wisconsin

Re: Bridgeport table bearing bracket stuck

Post by John Hasler »

John Evans wrote: Sat Sep 08, 2018 4:10 pm I used a similar method to get a stubborn Y axis nut out of the table bracket,used the screw as a puller. a bigger hammer often is not the best tool !!
Right. Sometimes a bigger prybar is needed.
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