Pulling bandsaw wheels - what do I need?

[Dean Karavite]

Thanks for the offer Rob! I pulled the wheels no problem with the cheapo HF pullers (on sale for $12). The bottom came off with out needing the puller and the top didn't need much work. The reason I had to pull the wheels was to put on new tires and crown them. I tried this with the old tires while on the saw and it was a pain. It is too cramped in the saw to do it. Also, the top wheel has a slight (maybe 1/16th) front to back wobble so I need to create a crown that compensates for that. FYI, cleaning the old glue off was a piece of cake with acetone. Denatured alcohol did not really take it off.

Turns out I do need bearings in the top after all.

Can I ask more dumb questions? Where can I order good bearings? These are 1 3/8 outer diameter, 7/16th thick with a 9/16 inner diameter. I did a little searching online and everything I saw was in metric. I could do conversions of course, but I'm assuming I am looking for bearings in inches.

[Rob Cunningham]

Glad you got the wheels of without any problem. For bearings, try MSC or Applied Technologies
http://www1.mscdirect.com
http://web.applied.com/base.cfm?page_id=1501

[Josiah Bartlett]

The bearings should have numbers on them- order by these numbers. I've used Accurate Bearing. They were quick and inexpensive.

[Dean Karavite]

Thanks Josh. No numbers anywhere on the old bearings. Still, I think I have them from measuring and ordered a pair from Accurate. The first thing the lady on the phone asked was, "Are you a wood worker?" They get all the people fixing up old tools I guess.

I'm saving stretching and glueing on those tires for a nice relaxing evening this week. Crowning will be another adventure. You know, this just might be an excuse to go buy a lathe... right?