swapping bearings?????

[the4thseal]

I am thinking about swapping out the bearings in my router and putting in some abec 7 bearings to help with the performance in terms of run out.in general make it run nicely. i was wondering if anyone has quote" blueprinted" a router and was it worth it? i do not want to go running down an already figured out bad idea.
Thoughts????????????

[CarveOne]

I haven't considered doing this bearing change myself. You don't mention if the router is fairly new and lightly used or old and has seen a hard life.

Some things to consider though.

1. Is the router housing plastic? The run out could be due to flexing of the plastic under side loading. The outer bearing race may not be fitting the plastic housing snugly enough to prevent movement. Better grade bearings won't solve anything on these routers.

2. Is the router housing cast and/or machined aluminum? If the bearing is a drop in fit instead of pressed in fit, putting in better grade bearings won't solve anything.

The only way to know if installing abec 7 bearings will help is to spend the money and try it. Personally, my thoughts is that if the router is old and has run out problems, it is better to buy a new high quality router than to spend money on a potentially dead end pursuit. Use the old router for noncritical woodworking tasks.

CarveOne

[NC Cams]

ABEC 7's won't fix tolerance stacks in less than stellar routers. They offer "the" final tune up when you're looking for the UTLTIMATE in accuracy and/or precision - they are a PART of the WHOLE solutinon, not THE soluion.

We did some ABEC 7 swapping when we trid to tune up some R/C cars. Results were mixed and not of appreciable merit. This does not mean that your efforts will or will not succeed.

IT only means that if your selection of bearings results in ENHANCED runout or tolerances in the deficient areas, yo'll see btter performance. YOu may see no change or you may see a worse synergy - like the guy says, you'll have to try it to see.

Good luck in your choices and efforts....

[friendlyfd]

Originally Posted by the4thseal I am thinking about swapping out the bearings in my router and putting in some abec 7 bearings to help with the performance in terms of run out.in general make it run nicely. i was wondering if anyone has quote" blueprinted" a router and was it worth it? i do not want to go running down an already figured out bad idea. Thoughts????????????

Tolerence is the key. Look at the installation tolerence for ABEC-7 bearings. Shaft and housing fits, sholder squareness etc. Are you willing to bore/sleve housing? Plate/grind journals? Spacing between bearings can cause/releave preloads. Is your collet surface concentric to the bearing journals within a couple .0001's inch. when rotated on Vee blocks? Also, is that bore in line with the shaft center line? If the last two criteria are not met, bearings will not matter a hoot. Lots to consider. Like building a house, start from the ground up.

[the4thseal]

my mistake.... i did not mention that i was going to go through the whole thing and check what else is going on. the housing is metal and it is new. all of your points are valid. i will let you guys know how it goes.

[CarveOne]

As good as the abec-7 bearings may be, there are so many other variables that are much worse and will hide the benefits of using the abec-7 bearings. Even the most expensive off-the-shelf wood routers from building centers probably don't justify the effort to improve them with better bearings. (But that never stops a skilled and determined tinkerer.)

This is why serious businesses buy the $10K+ fully machined to spec spindles as much as they do for more power and long life. Precision has to be designed into a product and then the production shop has to be rigidly held to those specs to achieve very low run-out tolerances that rival the tolerances of the abec-7 bearings.

I can easily turn a silk purse into a cow's ear by disassembling something like a an expensive router. Here's hoping that you can show us all how it's done with excellent results. Photos and video documentation please.


CarveOne

[the4thseal]

yea....we will see....any time i decide to do this kind of thing i do expect it to not go well. i keep a trash can ready or a window in case throwing is necessary.:-)

[randyf1965]

Just remember to OPEN the window first....