I was watching Greg Halligan's rebuild of his 13" South Bend, and in his episode of rebuilding the headstock, he showed that he replaced the fiber washer with a needle bearing/washer setup from McMaster-Carr.
I don't have my headstock apart just yet, but I was able to take a measurement of the OD of the rear of the spindle, behind the gear, with a micrometer. It came out to 1.437". The closest needle thrust bearing and washer McMaster has is for a 1.50" shaft. Or is the shaft thicker at that spot?
I don't have my headstock apart just yet, but I was able to take a measurement of the OD of the rear of the spindle, behind the gear, with a micrometer. It came out to 1.437". The closest needle thrust bearing and washer McMaster has is for a 1.50" shaft. Or is the shaft thicker at that spot?