What on earth is the point, replace, bearings are very low cost!

My dad was the kind of man that would buy a rebuild kit for a brake cylinder. I thought he was foolish; spending so much time to save so few dollars, until I got older. Now I have so much respect for the way he lived. This video reminds me of him. I like it.

If only we all had Matthias living next door!

That vacuum method was pretty clever. Granted, it wasn’t the most efficient way to pack a bearing, brute forcing the grease in proved to be much faster. But still it was clever.

For a moment there, I thought Matthias was going to balance the bandsaw wheels as well.

In bearings that have plastic protectors, it is easy to remove these covers for cleaning and regreasing, but when these protectors are made of tin, usually the covers get dented when removed and assembled. This way to regrease this type of bearing is very well thought out. God bless you.

Many years ago I worked for a company that had a lot of machines that needed regular maintenance. The bearings were all sealed as the one in your video. We were taught to drill a small hole carefully in the seal of the bearing. Then cover the hole with silicone caulk. When they needed grease, we simply used a needle tip on the grease gun. Worked good for us. Thanks.

love it that you cleaned it, then finally created the higher psi grease fill. what more could a bearing ask for.

NOT a sealed bearing, that's just shielded. but great ideas for shielded bearings to give them new life.

I love how entertaining these 'random stuff' videos are :)

That grease jig probably would have worked on my drill press bearings, but they were damaged knocking them out. Like you said just get new ones if you can't get at them easily. Nice and quiet now.

some times getting new bearings is better but sometimes it's too hard to find one , your solution is great for second types 👍

Matthias! I have a Shopsmith and my bandsaw makes the same sound! This was a perfect video for me. I know what I am doing today! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

I used the vacuum cleaner technique on my bicycle wheels, to get grease right through the axle to both sets of bearings (having first flushed them with degreaser, and dried them off). It worked very well. I've also used this technique to get woodglue deep into cracks. Vacuum cleaner on one side of the crack, tape in strategic places to concentrate the vacuum on the other side of the wood, and glue applied at that point until it appears at the other side of the wood.

Yes, Shopsmiths are somewhat odd creatures (owning a couple myself). But they work fine and are still supported by the manufacturer. That’s what really keeps them going. The same basic design has been around for 66 years, with improvements that are designed to be back compatible to those older machines. If a person doesn’t have a lot of space, a Shopsmith can be a good all around solution. Definitely not a perfect solution but it’s not designed to be in a cabinet shop. And yes, the bandsaw is odd by design, but for someone who understands it’s quirks, it’s actually simpler to set up than a standard bandsaw.

Happy to see you’re getting to know your neighbours! People down here are friendly but a little shy. 👍❤️

Thanks for this, I'm doing this next time. To think I've been popping the covers off all these years for no reason! Great tip.

I like your method of greasing those bearing with the gun. Pretty ingenious!

I usually pop the shields using two dental picks (you grab the springs on opposite sides and lever out) but this is much more interesting. Especially for rarer bearings that can't be replaced/ (shield can't be)removed (of which i've come across a few times).

I gotta say that’s the first time I’ve seen bearings greased with a shop vac. Thanks for sharing.

Excellent video great I've tried replacing bearings in old equipment and can never find the exact replacement bearing bravo great work my friend

I like the way you blew the paint thinner out of the bearings. Pretty neat little jig.

The final method of injecting grease was fantastic. Thank you so much for sharing.

About the best re-greasing process I've seen so far. 👍🏼

Awesome I love this! Good job Matthias. Great to have neighbors you can help and count on them for help 💕👍

I saw this video a while back and looked it up and found it again. I've got a Grizzly that has those bearing blade guides that I've previously replaced and they've been howling again for a while now. Wondered if your grease technique might work. And it worked! Interesting to see that there was little to no grease in them to begin with. I figure the new grease should have been able to push any old stuff out but there was none. I did do a quick soak in mineral spirits first to get the saw dust and resin off them. Great tip.

I look forward to all your videos Matthias. Humongous fan!!♥️

That wood block jig for cleaning and pushing grease in is actually genius 😁👍

well i never!! ive been repacking and regreasing bearings for 50yrs and have never seen such things. Man that will save me a motza on damaged bearing seals. Thanks for sharing Matthias. And for those who say buy new ones, I'm tipping they don't live and work 250miles from their nearest place to even order bearings..

I have a Powermatic 14” bandsaw with Carter bearing guides, I hate them! Every time I go to use my bandsaw there’s at least one bearing is sticky or frozen. I’m going to try this trick on all of the bearings when I get the time. Thank you Mr. Wandel!☮️👍🏼

I bought a ShopSmith a few years back and used it a fair amount. Wound up getting rid of it. A dedicated tool for each job is simply better, especially when the do-all machine isn't really designed that well to begin with. To be fair, it did get me by and it was only about $100 used, including a bunch of extras.

Yes, Shopsmith bandsaw are weird, but in a wonderful way. The upper wheel isn’t crowned but has a slight taper, and it is canted to the back, which causes it to auto-track against the bearings on the left. Great vid as always, Matthias. Scott

love the vacuum regreasing and the pressure jig as well.

I can't believe he came up with two working solutions to get grease into sealed bearings.

To the peril of all other KZfaqrs, I watched John Heisz' video first. Thanks for the useful content Matthias! I'm pretty sure my bandsaw bearings are ready for some grease.

The thing I love about Shopsmith is walking straight from the (whatever machine configuration the tool is in) to the accessory wall to get the other attachment and retool.

Amazing idea. I wish I would have know this about 20 years ago. Thanks for helping

Very clever. Also, you can pop the shield open and reinstall it back.

i think the shop smith tools are pretty cool, id love to hear your opinions on the unit

Fantastic, Matthias! Brilliant little jigs! 😃 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

That was very clever using wood as a bearing housing to clean and grease the bearings.

You can grease the bearings easily without the jig by putting some grease in your hand and repetitively rub the side of the bearing through it while rotating it. This will hydraulic the grease through the bearing.

Interesting way to re-grease bearings. Feels like a really Mathias way of doing it :)

Cannot wait to go lube all the bearings on my dad's old band saw. Thank you brother!

Yes anyone can just buy new. Its always nice to be able to salvage what we already have though. Particularly when encountering the infamous "backordered" message online but also just to see human ingenuity. Well done. Subscribed.

You sir, are a genus! I'll have to try that! Thanks for the great tip!!! When my hard to reach bearings get dry, I oil them with 30W nondetergent motor oil.

Absolutely brilliant. So simple and clever. Top Job Mate 😀 Cheers from Michael. Australia.

I love the tinkerer attitude 💪 Let’s find a way to do it . Doesn’t matter I can replace the bearing relatively inexpensive. But I get to tinker with it . Clean out old grease , build a fixture to force new grease in . 😄 I spend many hours doing just like that 💪

I used to clean bearings every week when I raced R/C cars a couple of decades ago. I bought a jig that, although plastic, looks a lot like what you made for blasting out the bearings using brake cleaner. It was designed with a conical shape so that many different size bearings could be cleaned. IIRC it was called a bearing blaster. Thanks for the tips and the memories!

Wow. I learnt something very useful on KZfaq for a change. Very clever idea 💡

I usually melt the grease, drop the bearing in and wait until grease resets.

Very cool idea using the vacuum to load grease.

My hat off to you. Excellent work.

The problem with greasing up squealing bearings is that the damage is already done. Once they squeal, you've had unlubricated metal on metal contact and wear has taken place. But I suppose for something like a band saw, you'll probably be ok. Not good for things that run for extended periods of time, or even continuously like wheel bearings, air handler motors and bearings, etc.

Very interesting method, I liked it very much. In the case of high loads bearings, there is a specific type of grease. Very sticky and smells like most of mechanics shops. Cheers!

My old trusty Shopsmith bandsaw has bronze bearings. I remove them , wipe them, and hit them with non-lithium grease (brake grease) once every couple of years, and it's golden. I'll wear out before those bronze bearings will.

Love your "make a jig" approach!

Brilliant alternative methods of greasing

Love it man.while i was an aprentice toolmaker i used to sit ontop of our bandsaw & eat my lunch.it (the saw)was made from a ww2 era russian tank!

Love the homemade bearing grease jig, that will save time and frustration 👌

Now I know how to make 'like new' my roller blade bearings. What a nifty trick! Clever clever!

Clever bearing tools. Conical bearing packers are commonly available (and inexpensive) and fit a range of bearing sizes. I use mine to pump fresh grease into bearings while purging the old grease out. No need for solvents.

Look, just Dremel the bearing in half. After you've gotten stitches on your thumb, cleaned up the blood and tissue from the workbench, try to see if the part number is still legible so you can order a new one.

I always love learning something new, called dad to teach him about this ty!

I really like this method. :) Thanks for sharing this neat tip.

Absolutely brilliant idea

Thanks for sharing. It worked perfect on my bearings!

Quick tip on that Mobil 1 synthetic grease (almost certain that's what you used because of the color and consistency). Mix it 1:2 with WD-40 marine grease (1 part Mobil 1 synthetic to 2 parts WD-40 marine), 1:1 if you've already bought a ton of it. Both advise NOT to mix them but in my trials on stationary machines, bikes and handheld power tools they both work just fine together. The Mobil 1, on its own, will separate and run all over the place given time but the WD-40 marine has no such problem, in fact, it thickens up the Mobil more than enough to never run. In a confined, sealed, bearing maybe there's no issue but in anything with exposure to the air the Mobil WILL separate and run.

Awesome use of your jigs and a shop vac.

Worthy of the main channel.

Well hell, that vacuum thing was slick but the grease gun set up was outta sight! Thanks..

Your method is very clever .

Great video. I have the same bandsaw and the same squealing.

I clean (usually only when rusty) with WD40 or diesel, mixes with grease better. I spin the bearing using the rubber backing adapter for roloc pads. You can usually blow a rubber sided seal out of a bearing, and pack with your thumbs. I have never had grease cross contamination ruin a bearing, if there was grease In there we would not be doing this. A blunt tip assortment of syringes is a must, 14 - 25 gauge, (20 for $10) you can simply just add some grease through the gap in the shield there. If the rubber of an applicable bearing is supple, you can just go under the lip. I warm the syringes a bit, and squeeze them with pliers, putting the syringe barrel through a metal washer where your index and birdie finger go to grab on to. I mostly drill a small hole in the seal wall, (cuz the seal is crunchy) and fill. Seal hole with a dab of 1min permetex right stuff. If you roll the bearing while putting the needle in, you can usually get deeper. I over pack the bearing and spin it very fast and fling the excess grease back out and clean off. I use Full Synthetic Valvoline VV985. It mixes great. Bad advice for space shuttles and aeroplanes, but wonderful for cars and equipment. I have had great luck greasing timing belt pulleys and front wheel bearings on cars/trucks, (sealed assemblys, not old school) If they are apart for something else like a ball joint or water pump, drill a hole and squirt them up, they will even quiet back up if noisy and arrest advancement of whatever axial play, if any, was there. I would run a re-greased Japanese timing belt pulley over a luck of the draw Chinese sourced part any day. A gambit of new timing belt pulleys could exceed the value of the car. (I have been known to repack new pulleys from 3rd party's to ensure good grease) Most people will not a replace belt pulley, if I can even get them to change the belt. I have greased hundreds of noisy 6203 style bearings and they always end up out lasting the thing I bolted them back on to. If a bearing does not spin a lot, I use Seal Glyde as a lubricant instead.

What a huge difference!

Curious what type if grease you used. Also, the second way of filling them, by pushing grease through the bearing, is easy if you need to fill many bearings with the same dimensions. Built a base plate with a rod that matches the inner diameter of the bearing that has a thread on it so you can screw the acrylic top tight. The acrylic top has two holes and you push grease in one hole with a syringe until it flows out of the other. Same volume filled every time and easy to clean when screening many different grease samples. /chemist working in grease R&D

I read stories of a farmer, in a Shopsmith group (who had a small herd of Shopsmiths in his barn in multiple configurations-- like double-headed drill press, etc.), and he'd regrease actual sealed bearings in his large hay mowers. He drilled a small hole in the seal, pushed grease in, cleaned the seal and put a dab of silicone sealer on the hole.

Thanks for sharing both methods of packing a bearing. To fix the shaking of your band saw buy a new set of tires for the pulleys. After that get in the habit of releasing the tension on the blades when the saw is not being used. The tension flattens the tires after sitting thus the shaking.

That is not a sealed bearing. It is a shielded bearing. A sealed bearing has rubber seals that do not allow dirt to get in.

That squeaking brought back awful memories of my Shopsmith. I've never been so happy to get rid of a tool

Danke Matthias, that was genius!

Great idea, the bearings i use are so odd no ones stocks them so this is perfect

Very simple and effective, thanks for the info.

Awesome work...very clever. Thanks

Outstanding video, thanks.

Neat way to do it. I would've thought you needed to remove the shields from the bearings.

Great info. Thanks. Now I'm looking forward to the video showing the blade wheels, still on the saw, running, being turned/filed down on the sides of the faces to make them crowned. Seems a template would be needed.

The vacuum trick is pretty clever

Very clever I'm sure this will come in handy at some point

pure genius... That's so great !

Feels Good When Everything Can Be Fixed

Clever idea, worked well.

2023 and I am returning to comment. This method works amazingly well. Flush the bearing with 3 in 1 or WD and blow dry. Place bearing in a jig above a shop vac and boy howdy does that grease get in that bearing. Holy lubrication. The fan on a 10 year old quartz heater began squeaking loudly and pissing off the wife and the chinchillas. This method returned the heater to the previous, silent operation. To those who say "Buy new bearings..." Well, I repaired the unit in less time than it would take to actually locate, order and receive the bearings. It's only temporary if it doesn't work.

Very good video, very informational thanks

2:28 don't you mean "shop smiths are weird"? 😂😂 I love the things don't get me wrong it's just a crazy contraption 😂😂

Clever and innovative! 👍

Awesome! Just some easy stuff and you're done.

Cool approach. What kind of grease did you use?

Nice tools! I've been tempted to buy a bearing packer but I don't need to do it enough to make it worthwhile. This, however, I can do!

I like it. I will keep that in my memory bank. You never know when you might need to do that.