I’m making a cart for my canoe club. It will haul boats back and forth from the canoe shed to the river. Mostly it’s of wood, but the ¾ inch axle and ¾ inch bearings are of steel. Apparently the two are made so precisely that there is no clearance for the axle to slide through the bearings.
I have tried smoothing and lubricating both articles but to no avail—the mating is still too tight to allow slipping the axle through to the desired position in the bearing. I’ve include photos to illustrate that a ¾ inch bit won’t go through the ¾ inch bearing hole.
Suggestions from Creekers should help. Many of you are skilled in metal-crafting as well as woodworking.