ResidentEvil Posted May 27, 2015 Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 Got an email that my Byrd head has shipped. I'll be installing it in my PM 54A 6" jointer. Seems to make a ton of sense to swap out the bearings while I'm at it. Looking at the parts lists online it seems that there are two different bearings: BB-6202ZZ on one side and BB-6203ZZ on the other. Are these actually two different bearings, or are they the same bearing just with different #s? Any suggestions on a good brand to buy, and a good place to order them online? Are there any other parts I should swap out at the same time? Any tips or tricks to making the switch go smooth? Will I need to completely re-set up my tables? Thanks in advance, Andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponderingturtle Posted May 27, 2015 Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 Unless you are trying to find suitable bearings from a separate source does it matter? Given that they are about $20 at powermatic store why not buy OEM parts instead of aftermarket? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim L. Posted May 27, 2015 Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 I just finished installing a Byrd head on my 8" Grizzly jointer. The two bearings were different sizes. My advice is make sure you have a 4" gear puller handy... Grizzly sells a decent one for $15. After I was done I just had to realign the outfeed table with the cutter head... the infeed table was fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ResidentEvil Posted May 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 Unless you are trying to find suitable bearings from a separate source does it matter? Given that they are about $20 at powermatic store why not buy OEM parts instead of aftermarket? I was trying to go with a separate source, but that was mainly because I had no idea you could buy parts directly from PM. Thanks for the input, now just need to wait for everything to get here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janello Posted May 27, 2015 Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 Marc has a great video explaining how to set up the tables with new strait knives. It would still benefit you (same basic principle) when installing a helical cutter to have a look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponderingturtle Posted May 27, 2015 Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 I was trying to go with a separate source, but that was mainly because I had no idea you could buy parts directly from PM. Thanks for the input, now just need to wait for everything to get here. https://parts.powermatic.com/default.aspx Here you go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 27, 2015 Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 My pm54a was relatively new when I switched out the cutter head. I used the old bearings because I didn't know any better. I've had no problems and only needed to adjust the outfeed table height. My machine was probably 12 months old when I made the switch and it had seen moderate hobby use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ResidentEvil Posted May 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 https://parts.powermatic.com/default.aspx Here you go Yea, I looked it up after I read your other post and ordered the bearings and one of the fence lock levers that had busted off. I did have to call them because they show different part #'s for the bearings on the knife cutter head vs the helical head. Talked to a tech guy and the bearings for the Byrd and the straight knife cutterhead are the same (in case anyone in the future gargle searches this). My pm54a was relatively new when I switched out the cutter head. I used the old bearings because I didn't know any better. I've had no problems and only needed to adjust the outfeed table height. My machine was probably 12 months old when I made the switch and it had seen moderate hobby use. I'm in about the same place. Bought the jointer second hand, but it was almost unused. Have jointed maybe 200-300 BF of wood since then. Unfortunately, did a lot more edge jointing than face, and theres a worn section on my knives for the 1-1.5" closest to the fence. Since I plan to keep this jointer around for a while, and changing the knives sounds like absolutely no.fun.at.all I decided to spring for the Byrd. I wanted to do the bearings mainly to avoid having to pull the old bearings and hope I don't mess one up. Its worth the extra $35 for bearings, especially since I paid $90 less for the head at Grizzly than I could find anywhere else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coastyboy Posted May 30, 2015 Report Share Posted May 30, 2015 Unless you are trying to find suitable bearings from a separate source does it matter? Given that they are about $20 at powermatic store why not buy OEM parts instead of aftermarket? if pm bearings are only 20.00 I would be shocked, Delta bearings for my DJ-15 were 59.95, so I bought good name brand Japanese bearing for less than 20 shipped on Ebay. OEM means nothing unless you can't find anywhere else, there's alway a more reasonable way with just as good of quality Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponderingturtle Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 if pm bearings are only 20.00 I would be shocked, Delta bearings for my DJ-15 were 59.95, so I bought good name brand Japanese bearing for less than 20 shipped on Ebay. OEM means nothing unless you can't find anywhere else, there's alway a more reasonable way with just as good of quality It tells you that they are the right grade in addition to size concerns and that could impact run out. Putting in ABEC 1 when it was intended for ABEC 5 could have an effect. Getting full specs is to know exactly what is the correct bearing is the issue. And I would be worried about fakes branded as quality bearings on EBay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 ==>And I would be worried about fakes branded as quality bearings on EBay There are a lot of legit entities with an eBay presence selling high-quality gear... But there are also a lot of bate/switch and outright counterfeit machine parts being sold as well. On eBay, be careful... If you purchase machine parts on eBay, you really do need to know something about what you are buying... As stated above, not all sets of bearings are created equal... There are grades, RPM ratings, etc. Where possible, get OEM from the tool mfg... For smaller kit, bearings are cheap, so trying to save $10 on eBay is false economy.... When you get to bigger woodworking kit and need rated bearings, INA/Schaeffler, WLT, SKF, Dodge, etc start about $100/each, so it can pay to shop around. Bearings can be a PIA to swap, so it’s better to get good quality and swap every ten years and not every three... It's not so much the pulling/pressing the bearing set, it's the alignment required for reassembly... Top-shelf kit is indexed and/or pillar-mounted, so no aligning, shimming, etc required -- but the vast majority of hobby-shop gear needs some sort of alignment, shimming, etc procedure -- and that's the pain... Then there's belt tension -- most folks incorectly tension their belts --- reducing bearing life in both motor and machine... If I get around to it, I've got a belt tension calculator that I'll post in the reference section... Anyway, good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ResidentEvil Posted June 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 So I'm installing my shelix. I removed the old head and got the bearing housings off the old head, I got brand new bearings for installing the new head. I installed the bearing on the short shafted side of the cutterhead using a regular socket putting pressure only on the inside ring of the bearing, no sweat. The bearing housing doesn't just slip over the bearing very easily, I have to give it a little bit of a coaxing to seat over the bearing. I got it seated, then turned it over and gently tapped the whole cutterhead on my workbench with the housing down until the bearing was fully seated. I didn't hit it hard, but it did take several taps to get it seated. Knowing that you aren't supposed to put lateral pressure on the middle or outer ring of the bearing, I'm worried that I did damage to the bearing. If I pull/push on the housing, there is a little bit of lateral play in the bearing now, but I have no idea if there is more than before I installed. The bearing still spins fine, and I cannot feel any grinding or hear any noise when I spin it. Will light blows like that damage the bearing? Is there a way to tell if its damaged? Is there a way to mount the bearing housings on the bearing without putting lateral pressure on the outer ring? I did essentially the same thing that Marc did on his video about installing the shelix in his jointer...just feels bad to put lateral force like that on the outer ring of the bearing. Edit: Also somewhat frustrated with Powermatic Store. The original cutterhead had Nachi bearings on it, marked Taiwan. I bought what I supposed were OEM replacement parts from the powermatic store and they sent me Amcan bearings marked Chinese. I have heard that Nachi bearings are good quality, and can't find anything about the quality of these Amcan ones. I wish I had known that they were going to send me a different brand bearing, I would have bought replacement bearings somewhere else of a quality I could verify. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 ==>Is there a way to mount the bearing housings on the bearing without putting lateral pressure on the outer ring? Have the cutterhead delivered with bearings installed or use a purpose-made bearing press... If you can't have them factory installed, take the assembly to your local auto guy and use his hydraulic press – it’s a 30 second operation... I usually throw him $5. What you are paying for is access to a selection of seating disks/adapters/etc... Failing that, a small engine repair shop should have what you need... ==>If I pull/push on the housing, there is a little bit of lateral play in the bearing now There is always some lateral play... Not to state the obvious, but it depends on how hard you push and how much deflection you measure... We could start with raceway parallelism and go from there, but I haven’t had my morning caffeine infusion, so we’ll skip the science and engineering portion of our post... ==> I didn't hit it hard, but it did take several taps to get it seated. Obviously, depends on how many taps, how hard and where you hit the bearing... At this point, it isn’t worth worrying about... Assemble the machine, hit the button and make some sawdust... So the bearing set may last ten years and not fifteen – well, you’ll know better for the next time... Unless you really had to give it a whack, then it's last 30 seconds... Just kididng... Pretty much... Call it a learning process... ==> I bought what I supposed were OEM replacement parts from the powermatic store and they sent me Amcan bearings marked Chinese Welcome to the new woodworking machinery economy... PM (along with most Asian-sourced woodworking kit) now comes from China... and so do their OEM parts... If they sent you the same rating/class, then it should be AOK... For the future, you can just read the numbers from the bearing, and then procure from a known source. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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