rebuild your router

Thanks for the good info!:thumbup:

on a side note..for those who don't have one these routers yet..just bought one on amazon yesterday for $73.00 with free shipping...i think thats a good price?..and thanks for the info Kim...sounds like it can last a long time with a little maintenance....joe

We've been doing this very thing for years!

You can replace the bearings and brushes quite a few times before the commutator is worn out. After that, just buy a new router. It's not really worth it to buy the new armature.

On many of ours, we have ended up taking out the little pin used to lock the spindle for tool changes. It makes the rebuild much easier, and we just use a pin through the hole to hold the spindle for tool changes.

Royce Bunnell
www.obcues.com

I agree about the shaft lock pin removal Royce

I had that pin get accidentally activated by a loose dust collector, and broke the front housing in the process! A drift pin works better anyways! I have also been rebuilding my routers for years, crazy not to, it is childs play.

It's been a while since I changed Mine out, but I think I used a window handle clip remover to get behind the bearing and get It off of my first router, It was a little flimsy being made from sheet metal, but worked just good enough to get the bearing off. A bearing puller would be much better, but can be done without one. I believe I then pressed the bearing back on with a piece of bored out delrin. There was a little wear on My armature when I pulled It apart and inspected, but It still worked fine after replacing the bearings. Another Azer was kind enough to provide the bearings for me, and that's what prompted me to give It try. The router has performed well every since. It was a porter, and even with the wear on the armature It still ran smoother then My brand new dewalt that I bought at the time, even though they are the same router design. I put the locking pin back in Mine, but taking It out, and using a bar sounds like plan.

Greg

Cue Crazy said:

It's been a while since I changed Mine out, but I think I used a window handle clip remover to get behind the bearing and get It off of my first router, It was a little flimsy being made from sheet metal, but worked just good enough to get the bearing off. A bearing puller would be much better, but can be done without one. I believe I then pressed the bearing back on with a piece of bored out delrin. There was a little wear on My armature when I pulled It apart and inspected, but It still worked fine after replacing the bearings. Another Azer was kind enough to provide the bearings for me, and that's what prompted me to give It try. The router has performed well every since. It was a porter, and even with the wear on the armature It still ran smoother then My brand new dewalt that I bought at the time, even though they are the same router design. I put the locking pin back in Mine, but taking It out, and using a bar sounds like plan.

Greg

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Greg,

Yea, I doubt many will wear out the commutator bars on the armature.

We do go through them, but we run our routers more than most.

I'm actually drawing up a mount right now to try the Bosch Colt. I too feel that the Dewalt isn't nearly as good a router as the original Porter Cable's were. I really like the speed control on the Colt. You just don't need to run them at full speed, and they are much quieter.

Royce Bunnell
www.obcues.com

RBC said:

Greg,

Yea, I doubt many will wear out the commutator bars on the armature.

We do go through them, but we run our routers more than most.

I'm actually drawing up a mount right now to try the Bosch Colt. I too feel that the Dewalt isn't nearly as good a router as the original Porter Cable's were. I really like the speed control on the Colt. You just don't need to run them at full speed, and they are much quieter.

Royce Bunnell
www.obcues.com

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Yeah the Dewalt I use to do My ruff cuts with, and My finish cuts with a Porter, because it cuts so much smoother. I haven't compared run out between the 2, but I'm guessing that's the difference, because other then that they are virtually the same router. On handles they cut pretty much the same, and It does not matter as much which I use for finish cuts, It's on shafts that I see a difference.

I've been hearing and reading about the colt for a while now, so I'll probably eventually get around to trying one Myself.

Greg

whammo57 said:

The only thing keeping me from trying other routers is the difficulty in mounting them. The PC and Dewalt routers are cheap with a plastic body. But for the money, they do alright.

I can tell when they need bearings by the sound and my calipers vibrate and fall off the lathe, a qualitative analysis to be sure. lol

I just bought enough bearings to rebuild them 8 times for $29 with shipping. The brushes wear slowly but I can't even detect wear on the commutators.

Kim

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Your right about that. They are definitely easier to mount. It doesn't get much easier.

Looking at the spindle thread though, I believe I could come up with something to mount the Colt. I could buy the mount, but instead would more then likely spend that money on the tooling that I would need for my mill to bore the large hole, and just machine My own. I wouldn't necessarily ditch My other routers though, just add a different one to the batch. Being variable speed, If The run out is as low as they say I would love to mount It to My pantograph, but It would be too wide to fit between the rods, so that option is out unless I re engineered the entire machine, and I don't think I'm willing to do that, so more then likely it would end up as another lathe router.

I can hear when the bearings are going out too. There is more vibration, but the sound can be ear piercing, especially when they are really worn out.

Greg

Bottom right hand corner of this page is a video. I thought of this thread when I saw it. http://www.ereplacementparts.com/dewalt-d26670-type-laminate-trimmer-parts-c-1009_23684_3999.html

whammo57 said:

Yea... that guy in the video shows one way to get the bearing off. But that is an example of a wood worker hacking up a mechanical device. He risks damaging the armature, the commutator, the fan, and the shaft.

The right tools for the job are safe, easy, and fast.

You need these:

A small bearing splitter and a steering wheel puller:

This is just one way.

When you put bearings back, press them in or on. You can tap them ON using a wooden dowel or plastic dowel. DO NOT USE A STEEL HAMMER OR PUNCH.

kIM

Kim

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I thought the same thing, that It would be easy to scar the shaft the way He did It in that video, plus the ratcheting down on armature does not seem like the best idea, and I think He said he grinded the vise down to clear the fan., but I suppose It works.
When I did mine, all I had was a harmonic balancer puller, and one of the arm type pulley pullers, and neither would work, so I had to improvise. I used the clip remover that I mentioned before, by slipping It behind the bearing, and turned a piece of delrin down to the size of the shaft. I then used something, don't remember what It was, but It basically suspended the whole armature by the clip remover that was up against the bearing. I then used the delrin rod to drive the shaft downward pushing the bearing off. It was a round about way, but It worked for me.

You should see how he removed the bearing from a compound miter saw. I think It was a dewalt. I watched It because I own 2 of those, and figured eventually I'll have to change those out too. he cut the upper race off with a dremel, then used a puller like the one in your picture to get behind the bottom race and get it off. Might have been a better method, but have to be careful when cutting the top race off.

Greg

whammo57 said:

The bearing splitter is the best when you don't have much room behind the bearing and can't grip it with a 2 or 3 jaw puller.

I have actually seen many times.... a dremel or small air grinder with a cut off wheel used to cut through the races and the bearing will release its grip and slide off. If you hit the shaft with the grinder a little .... it usually doesn't matter.

I have always bought a tool if i needed it. The right tools for the job. Just like building pool cues. I can rebuild a PC or Dewalt router in less than 30 min.

Kim

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Actually I do have one somewhere, but have not seen It in years, and I could not find it at the time, only the other 2 pullers that I mentioned, and neither would work. The way took It off was just as safe though, and the bearing came off easily,so even for My first time with that router, It took no longer then 30 minutes to an hour, and that's including turning a piece of delrin to size. It was a lot easier to change them then I expected before actually tearing it down, and getting inside of It. There's really not a lot of parts in there compared to many things that I have had to disassemble and put back together. When I was younger and tore things apart I had a better memory for diagramming everything in my mind, and remembering where It all went, but since getting older I've had to start taking pictures on things with a lot of parts. These routers are not problem at all, It's pretty much self explanatory me how to put them back together even If It were from pieces to begin with.

yeah the method on the compound saw, was not really that bad. The guy in that video used a cutoff wheel in the grinder, scored a line on 2 sides then split It the outer race with a vise. I'm pretty good with a cutoff wheel so I'm sure I could do It easily enough, but when I watched It, I was thinking for someone that does not have experience with one, and have a feel for holding them steady, that It may easily get away from them and cut into the fan or something.

I had a situation with a hot water heater a couple of weeks ago where the union was rusted into the top of the tank, and I could not get It off without stripping the nut out but the pipe busted right behind the coupling, and If I cut the coupling off flush I would not have had enough stub out to get another one on the pipe. I had the use the same type of cutting wheels to cut a series of slits into the existing coupling, without cutting into the pipe inside, and gently pry the pieces off. Luckily I was able to get It off fairly cleanly, and got a good surface to glue My new on one. Anyhow that was a lot trickier to do, and cutting a race off with one would probably be as easy as Sunday morning.

Greg

I am getting old too

I was a technician, then taught others for years. But whenever I take anything apart for the first time I keep my digital camera handy, and take pics of every key step, wiring color and hookup, gear positions, etc. The router is simple, but when I took each of my large metal lathes apart, that camera was my best friend. Especially when I had to wait months for a part, i would have never remembered every little detail. A long cry from the days when I could throw an entire engine or tranny in a box then reassemble it from memory. To think these are the golden years!

whammo57 said:

Yea.... I worked in a manufacturing maintenance environment for 20 years and can do most anything mechanical. Sounds like you have experience too...

Kim

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LOL, Well I would not be as bold as to say I could fix anything, I have plenty of weak areas, but I have little bit of mechanical ability. Just like His father before him, My dad rarely ever paid anyone to repair anything, so from the time I could walk I spent a lot of time helping him work on all kinds of things, and by My teenage years I worked in his shop as a mechanic. I've worked several trades since, most of which required at least some amount of mechanics in one way or another. I've done work in the building industry too though, so that's a little different but many times I had to help keep equipment running on site. Factory work not one of the jobs I have worked, but I have friends that maintain equipment in them. Some were much like me before being hired on initially, but there were some That didn't even know they were mechanically until being hired on. I know this because I grew up with them, and remember them coming to me for help when something broke down on them. Just from the pure fact that they have worked on different things then myself, I'm sure there's a thing or 2 they could learn Me, so I don't consider myself to be more inclined then they are..