This is why you don't use a drill press for a milling machine or
lathe.


On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 15:31:08 +0100, Andy Dingley
wrote:

On Fri, 22 Aug 2003 12:10:07 -0400, "Wayland"
wrote:

When the blade is off, should
the top wheel on a bandsaw spin freely

All rotating wheels mounted on a ball race should spin freely.

If they don't, and the ball race isn't broken, then something is
acting as a brake. Chances are that some sort of sideways clamping
device (like a nut on an axle) is not only clamping the centre race of
the bearing in place, but is also applying some braking force to the
outer race of the bearing, or the dust shield. Now this is bad,
because the bearing probably isn't set up to be dealing with an axial
load like this. Applying end-loads to plain ball bearings will cause
early failures, because the balls aren't running along the path in the
track which they ought to.