Parks 18" bandsaw shaft questions

[Zachary Hoyt]

I have an 18" Parks bandsaw that I bought a few years ago at a school auction and have been using since. It began making a horrible sound today, and I found the sound was coming from the main shaft that connects the driven pulley to the lower wheel. I finally got it apart tonight and found two things that I am wondering about.

The bearing right behind the lower wheel has worn into the shaft. The shaft is supposed to be 20mm, and is 19.5mm in the spot where the bearing sits. The original diameter is visible as a raised area between where the bearing was and the end where the wheel was, which I cleaned up a bit. I clearly need to do something to repair this. I need to add 1/4mm all the way around. It seems that Loctite 638 or maybe 660 would be one way to do this, or I could try to find a suitable piece of shim stock or a speedi sleeve type ring, or I could use the stick welder to build the shaft up a bit and then grind it back down to size. None of these seems like a great idea, but I am hoping one may be better than the others, or that there is another method. I could ship the shaft somewhere to be welded and turned back to size, if there is anyone who does that by mail, but I think this would probably take a while.

The other question is about the little hole with a spring loaded ball in it, on the top of the shaft housing. I am guessing that some kind of oil or grease is supposed to be pumped in through this hole since the old bearings were 6204Z, with a metal shield on the outside and open on the inside. The inside of the housing looks oily at one end, but I don't know if that could just be from the bearing failing. It would be hard to get at that spot to add anything, though, as there is not too much clearance above it once the shaft housing is back in the saw.

I will be grateful for any advice about how to deal with these problems. In the long run I would like to look at a newer or better saw, but for now this is what I have and I will need to fix it to use in at least the short term.

[Bill Dufour]

I would replace those bearings with sealed and never try to oil or grease them. Then no need to worry about how to use that lube fitting.
I think 0.25 gap is too much for loctite. I would build it up with JB weld, let dry, then turn it down to 20 mm. Does loctite attack jb weld or not?
Bill D

[John Lanciani]

The proper repair is to have it spray welded to build it back up and then either turned or ground back to size with the proper tolerance for the bearing. Anything less is just going to be temporary. In my area I'd expect to pay a couple of hundred bucks to have it done right.

[Jerry Bruette]

I'd just have a new shaft made. A good machine shop could do it in the same amount of time or less. If the person doing the welding isn't careful that shaft will look like a banana. Then you'll have to make a new one anyway.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Check and see if a shaft saver is available in the size you need.

[Zachary Hoyt]

Thank you all for your help. I got a J-B Weld product that I applied and let harden, and it may have done a small amount of good. I took measurements of the shaft so that I can look into having one made, and for now I put it back together with cheap sealed bearings that they had on the shelf at Sturdy Supply in Saranac Lake. I was lucky to find out that they had them. The saw is back to running and has no more vibration than it always has had since I bought it in 2021, and the horrible noise has gone away.

[Richard Coers]

I once had a motor bearing spin on the armature shaft. The motor shop built up the shaft with a laser/metal powder process, and then turned the shaft back to proper diameter.