How Are Bearing Driver / Presses Made?

The type I've seen are pretty basic items to turn on a lathe. Maybe you could give us a HF web page showing the item you bought.

On Wed, 07 Dec 2005 22:32:03 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, "Name" quickly quoth:

When I was wrenchin' for a living, I used to remove the old races with a hammer and punch, then cut them with a cutoff wheel on my die grinder. A 3x1/16" disc cuts about a 1/8" slit in the race.

I could then put the incomplete circle in the vise to weld a bead on the inside of the slit, making it a slip fit in the housings. On some, I simply used that to hammer (or using a small press, press it in) a new bearing race into the housing (usually of axles or hubs on brake rotors.)

On others, I welded a pipe onto the race and used that as a hollow extension. On a few others, I welded a plate on top and a shaft to it and made a solid extension.

This was a lot more fun than buying the $369 Snap-On set...which never seemed to have the correct sizes, either.

========================================================= The Titanic. The Hindenburg. +

I think HF also sells a bearing kit with larger sizes for $30.

This is for pressing into a housing and not onto a shaft I hope?

Hi. Thanks for the reply. Here is what I bought:

Someone later in the thread pointed out this set:

Thank you.

Thank you for your reply. That sounds like a good method to make some. Unfortunately, I don't have a welder.

I have seen a few sets, but they always seem to be SAE, and I want metric. I didn't look at Snap-On, as my wallet and I know better.

Thank you.

Hi. Thank you for the information. I looked at their site and saw that one. Do you know if it is SAE or metric? I am assuming SAE, since it is not mentioned. :-(

Hi. Yes, it would be for pressing into a housing. I need metric, and the HF set is SAE. Some fit by chance, some don't fit, and then I need some that are larger. I found a kit one time, but it was $400 or so. That is way too much for me.

I think a trip to the local bearing shop would yeild a bucketful of various size dud bearings from which to make a whole set of driver tools. Good idea!

LLoyd

Or to Harbor freight for the cheapest 3/4 socket set they have (:

Just using an old race and slitting it makes it usable, skip the welder. Besides the race, you just need something flat to press against the "driver" race. I use a piece of 2x4 hardwood on wheel bearings in hubs.

Missed attribution. I have a welder. It was the OP who doesn't. Slitting won't necessarily shrink the race. A weld would. But I think a carefully applied torch would do it, too.

LLoyd

Ha ha. :-) I used a socket one time, but I am worried that they might shatter if much force was used. I THINK (caution) that a solid piece would take more pressure than a socket.

Thanks.

If the force is applied evenly, it would take a LOT to collapse even a cheap socket. But the sockets would be poor approximations of properly-sized drive arbors. Salvaged races would provide nice fits. And the price is right.

LLoyd

Sorry, mis-snipped.

Just slitting it makes it, at most, an easy thing to tap in and out. For a few uses it works fine unless the race goes deep (deeper than the width of 2 races) into the holde.

It won't shatter, but it will mushroom and deform so that it will be useless as a socket.

Sounds to me like you need to buy some power tools ;)

Thanks for the info. Power tools? This is a bearing and press issue. :-)

Thanks for the information. Some of the sockets are rounded on the end, which creates less contact area. I was hoping a driver would be flat and have more contact area.

I have two junk races that I can use as drivers. When it was earlier mentioned to use an old race, I didn't think about using one whole, as he had mentioned changing the diameter.

I used an old bearing I had removed to help get the new one started, so I know what you mean by it going in too far. A slit sounds like it would help get it back out if it went too far.

Thanks!