Here is the continuation of yesterday’s repair. I determined that the bearings in the motor had gone bad making the motor sound like a jet on take off. Pulled the motor, pulled the bearings and a trip to my local NAPA auto parts store for new ones. With bearings in hand it was time to put them back on the shaft. If you don’t know bearings are pressed into place and without a bearing press it can be near impossible to put them back in place. The fit is so tight the only way to remove them was with a pulley remover tool. Luckily my sordid history involved working on engines and I still have those tools. But back to how to get the bearing on without a bearing press. Well kids this is where science knowledge comes in handy. What happens when metal gets hot? It expands much like a waistline at thanksgiving. Unlike the waistline once metal cools it returns to its original size. I just happened to have a small enamel kiln and a oven thermometer in the studio. The thermometer and a timer allowed me to not overheat the bearing and damage it. After heating the bearing to 300 degrees for 10 minutes it was ready for placement. Pull the bearing out of the kiln with a pair of pliers, place it on the shaft and it just slid right down into place. Then rinse and repeat for the second bearing. Once the bearings had cooled I put the motor back in the housing, repaired the broken ground wire, cleaned and lubed the control arms, and then put the whole thing back into the housing. Once all said was done, I had no left over bolts and it worked and was so quiet. Now Bronco Sloan can put his 45 year old wheel back to use and hopefully get another 45 years out of the heavy beast. None of this would have been possible without the knowledge and problem solving skills passed down to me by my father. Thanks dad, I’ll never be able to repay you for what you taught me, but I’ll try. #shimpo #rkwheel #shimpowheel #conedrive #video #potterywheel #clay #repairs #christmasmiricle #thanksdad https://www.instagram.com/p/B6deXrUgWvw/?igshid=dwk1x2x761z2
