What's new
What's new

Heavy 10 Headstock bearings - Split?

Dan1900

Aluminum
Joined
Jul 29, 2017
I am continuing to tear down my heavy 10 for restoration. I'm starting out with the headstock, and after opening it up, I realized the expander/wedge part is missing from the bigger bearing. I got to looking for a replacement online, and I noticed all the headstock bearings for the heavy 10 seem to be a solid design with a split at the top.

(ebay example: NICE ORIG SOUTH BEND HEAVY 1 LATHE SMALL/LARGE BEARING CAPS & SLEEVE BEARINGS | eBay)

Few questions:
1. does anyone happen to have just the expander for large bearing for sale?
2. is this an uncommon bearing design? I cant find any other info or images online, everything else is the 1 piece bearing design.


IMG_3666.jpg
 
that's jacked up...:)

Really can't imagine why someone would do that, I guess I was their attempt to make new bearings....did they work ok?

Might want to pony up the 100 bucks...if you do use your original caps though.
 
So the ebay link I posted has the caps and bearings, and they appear to be in pretty good shape. I really dont want to shell out the cost of an entire headstock to get matched bearings, you dont think there is some standardization to these bearings? There's also a bit of adjustability to them so I figure they would work, no?
 
Yes, you may swap in good used bearings without issue.

Again, do not change your original bearing caps...if you buy the eBay deal only use the bearing shells and expanders....toss the eBay caps somewhere right off the bat so there is no chance of mixing them up.
 
If I were you, I would buy that ebay deal, and tell the seller to keep the caps and put them back with the headstock casting.

allan
 
Yes, you may swap in good used bearings without issue.

Again, do not change your original bearing caps...if you buy the eBay deal only use the bearing shells and expanders....toss the eBay caps somewhere right off the bat so there is no chance of mixing them up.

Ahh, ok, I follow now. I misunderstood to mean you need the bearings to be matched to the headstock it paired with, not the caps.

I'm still a little confused about my current bearings because all the milling appears to be very clean, not something that was a diy replacement. I'm wondering if this might have just been a very early/late/short production run. I'm gonna clean them and test for runout before I jump at replacing them altogether.

Thanks everyone for your input.
 
For sure not anything SB did.

Just a reasonably skilled hobby guy or a job shop expedient to get the machine going.

Bronze just machines nicely.
 
Just got it back together and whoever made them did a great job. They needed some tuning but the runout is now nil. Glad I didn't jump at replacing them right off the bat.
 
Does the vertical play come out right? How about the side to side? Usually that isn't checked but with the style of bearing you have, I can see where it could be right vertically but not horizontally.
 
I would replace them.

Lots of potential issues here...one being in the absence of a top oiler the THAT split design isn't going to work very well with a bottom fed capillary system...at least in my mind anyway.

Add that there is no positive means of locking them in the bores,they are just kinda flopping around in there..seems like asking for trouble.
 
I think its meant to use the expanders up top as the locking mechanism. bottom side, I guess maybe it keys on the capillary wick tube?
 
Yes, the expanders and oiler tube are effectively relegated to "flop limiters"

in use it may be fine, but is not founded on good solid practices IMO.
 
I had my heavy ten apart a few months back and don't remember the bearings being in two parts. Mine are one piece, located at the bottom on the oiler and split at the top for the wedge. The idea with the wedge is to expand the bearing and firmly lock it into the casting. Can't see how your bearing can work this way.
If you find somebody to supply these bushes new I would be very grateful if you would let me know as these are like hens teeth here in the UK.
Ken Wheeler
P.S Just been out and removed the back bearing cap to confirm, and yes the bush is in one piece.
 
I had my heavy ten apart a few months back and don't remember the bearings being in two parts. Mine are one piece, located at the bottom on the oiler and split at the top for the wedge. The idea with the wedge is to expand the bearing and firmly lock it into the casting. Can't see how your bearing can work this way.
If you find somebody to supply these bushes new I would be very grateful if you would let me know as these are like hens teeth here in the UK.
Ken Wheeler
P.S Just been out and removed the back bearing cap to confirm, and yes the bush is in one piece.
 
Beau, pretty much you are limited to whatever eBay has to offer or you may contact Ted at the link below...he probably has some NOS bearings, they will not be cheap, but Ted can absolutely be counted upon to do his part to deliver the goods.

[email protected]
 








 
Back
Top