From an original article by Sanders
Sometimes, the bushings are so worn that there is a lot of play in the bearing. I have seen one bearing so badly worn that the platter edges could wobble up and down by more than 5 mm, when pushed with a finger on each side of the plateau. . I could hear te spindle hit the sides of the bushing...
A little movement in the plateau from flexing of the deck is normal, but if you can hear "clunk -clunk" (and the bearing screws are not loose...) it is time to think about new bushings.
Fortunately, they are easy to get and not expensive.
Oilite makes them: 9mm ID, 12mm OD, and 14 mm long. There are two per bearing.
The Oilite part number is AM0912
They are not expensive, less than $10 a pair. I get them from a local bearing shop.
They are also available from
http://www.bearingboys.co.uk/Plain_Oilite_Bearings-1158-cNow that we have some sleeves, let's get to work:
Remove the cap
Remove the screw
Remove the snap ring with needle nose or special pliers. Two small screwdrivers works too, but that is more cumbersome and can lead to blood loss.
Push the spindle down to remove the two plates. The thin Nylatron one is the thrust bearing plate, the thick steel one is for structural strength.
If the ball is stuck to the spindle, remove it now, before you lose it.
There are two bearing bushings. One is flush with the top of the bearing, the other is recessed into the end, to make room for the plates and snap ring.
Measure how far the bushing is recessed below the end of the bearing. This should be 7 mm.
The time has come to remove the old sleeves. I use a long M6 bolt with a flat head as the push rod, and a small hammer with plastic ends as the driving force. Ideally, one would use a bearing press, but I don't have one of those...
Put the bottom plate back in
Put the push rod on top of it
Start tapping gently with the hammer on the pushrod, holding everything straight in your hand. The bushing will move about 1 to 2 mm each time you hit it. After a while it gets harder, because the bushing has now met the other bushing and you have to move two bushings. Persist and they will come out one by one.
There. that was easy... Now, you can clean the inside of the bearing housing with some solvent and a tissue.
We are ready to install the new bushings.
We will need a piece of wood as an anvil, we don't want to deform the new sleeves in any way.
Put some oil on the outside of the new bushing, it will go in easier that way.
Line up the bushing by hand in front of the bearing, and push it tight, holding it straight.
with the bushing resting on the wood block, gently tap on the housing to push it in. Proceed until the bushing is flush with the housing.
There. It's in, flush with the housing.
Same procedure for the back bushing, till it's flush.
Now, we have to get the back bushing in a bit further, we have to achieve a 7 mm recess after all.
This is most easily achieved with the back plate (2 mm) and an M6 nut, which just so happens to be 5 mm thick. 2 + 5 = 7, they once taught me.
Put the bottom plate on top of the bushing, and gently tap until flush.
Put the 5 mm thick nut on top...
And gently tap until flush.
There. Done. the bushings have been replaced.
Now, insert the spindle and check that it slides and rotates freely, without binding anywhere.
If you like, you can polish the spindle. I use a polishing paste called "Dursol", it's like a pink toothpaste.
Put some masking tape around the "record" end of the spindle
Gently clamp that end in the chuck of a drill.
Liberally apply some polishing paste to the spindle.
Wrap a rag around the spindle, and spin the drill. You are of course smart enough not to get the rag caught on the spinning chuck of the drill, right?
Spin the drill for about a minute or so, squeezing the rag onto the bearing surfaces of the spindle with your fingers. Move the pressure point around, to get an even polish.
There. A beatifully polished spindle. If all is well, that didn't hurt at all...
You can now lubricate the bearing. If you don't loctite the cap and the screw right away, you can experiment with different kinds of oil.
There is nothing wrong with experimenting, or running a bearing in with one oil, and then replacing it with the "final" oil, with a cleaning in between.
Which oils works best in terms of friction and silence depends on the bearing, I found.
The one I did for this pictorial is happy with thin TL011, I will see if it still feels that way after a 24 hr run-in.
