Yesterday I had a bearing come free from a 3/16″ roundover bit (Oldham) and haven’t seen it since. The screw was on the router table, the bit in the router and the bearing was??? The bit had received moderate use and the bearing had never been removed. I also noted no damage to the screw threads. Two questions: Have any of you had this happen? Do you routinely check the bearing screw for tightness?
Roy
Replies
It does happen, wise always to check (at least with your fingers) screw before routing.
Like changing a tire, you are responsible for tightening the lugnuts or off goes the wheel.
Routers
Pat, Thanks for the reply. What you say seems obvious, but my thought had been with the rotation of the router, the screw would never come loose. I was lucky that no injury occurred.
Roy
Roy,You are correct that logically the screw would tighten as you use the bit but vibration, heat/cold cycles and bearing failures are among the things that can cause them to loosen. Pat's advice to at least check to see if you can loosen the screw with fingers before use is great (of course be cautious of the sharp cutting edge).
Charles MFreud America, Inc.
Edited 10/4/2005 1:57 pm ET by CharlesM
Roy,
Did your router have any dust collection running at the time (i.e. shop vac, dust collector)? If so, you may want to check inside the unit for the missing bearing.
Dan Kornfeld, Owner/President - Odyssey Wood Design, Inc.
Dan, I am using a newly completed router table following Norm's plan and have installed the big Milwaukee. It is fabulous as long as I ignore the poor shop vac that I have attached. It barely picks up dust - I can't imagine it pulling a bearing into it. If it had good suction, I would take a look.
Roy
"If it had good suction, I would take a look." Look anyway! It could have taken just the right trajectory, and a bearing is probably easier to pick up than dust is. Note the "bowling ball" ad by one of the manufacturers.
Open it up and stick a magnet in there. :-)forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
next time try a drop of loctitie red(high vibration) on the end of the threads.
Always a good plan to check that the bearing properly seated & is running free as well as before use. They are there for a reason & if they come off or seize in mid-route you're back a step or two.
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