Need help rebuilding the lower rollers on a Rockwell 22-650 planer

[tdacon]

Hello, all -

We've got a Rockwell 13" woodworking planer, about 30 years old, model

22-650, whose lower rollers need to be rebuilt and we don't know how to dismantle them. This is a link to some pictures on PhotoBucket that show what I'm talking about:

The rollers themselves roll on shafts that pass somehow through through-holes in either side of the base casting. What you see from the outside of the castings on either side are adjustment fittings that are slotted for a screwdriver blade with a hole drilled axially and tapped for what seems to be a 5mm metric machine screw with a fine thread, maybe 0.8 pitch. The fittings are eccentric and you adjust the height of the rollers by turning the fittings with a screwdriver and then tightening down a set screw to keep the adjustment. The rollers themselves seem to be rotating on through-shafts that look to be around 9/16" to 5/8" in diameter or so. The manual is silent on the issue, and the exploded drawing shows the slots in the base for the rollers, but there's no exploded view of the roller assemblies.

We need to get them out and find out what kind of bearings the rollers roll on, replace the bearings, and reinstall them. We threaded a machine screw into one end of one of them over a big hex nut and some wide washers, and then carefully tightened it down. The shaft came towards us a little way (shown in one of the pictures) and then came to a stop. Possibly a slide hammer would do the job, possibly a pin punch and a lump hammer would drive them out, but we're not going to start banging on this thing until we have some confidence that we're doing the right thing. Ideally we'd like to hear from someone who's done this disassembly and can tell us how to proceed, or who has done the job on a similarly-designed tool.

I'm posting this on both the old woodworking machines web site and the woodworking/metalworking internet newsgroups.

Thanks for any help you can offer, Tom

[woodchucker]

Without first hand knowledge so you understand. I'll bet those eccentric nuts are also holding the shaft in place, so remove the slotted eccentrics, both sides and the roller should then be unsupported.you may have to push he roller into one of the eccentric's former spots to get the other end out. But that should release the roller.

[Sonny]

Does this pic help, maybe to get some idea of the disassembly:

Sonny

[Terry Coombs]

I'm betting that the eccentrics have a groove around the outside that the set screw rides in . Get one or both eccentrics out and the center shaft should slide right out . Another thought , the eccentric might be machined on the ends of the center shaft , easier to keep both sides the same height .

[tdacon]

Does it ever! Thanks, Sonny. That image is probably going to break the log jam for us.

Tom

[tdacon]

Thanks, guys. This helps. It looks like what we need to do is just be a little more assertive backing those adjusters out and we'll be able to get the thing apart. Sonny's picture was invaluable.

Tom

[John Grossbohlin]

I looked at this while eating lunch... needed the mental break from staring at data! LOL

Anyhow, it occurred to me that the liberal application of Liquid Wrench on the adjusters/casting, and fine emery paper, might help get them moving... they probably haven't been moved in 30 years...

[Sonny]

You're welcome. Maybe, take some pics and post to OWWM.

Sonny

[Retiredcarp]

Did you ever get the rollers out of your 22-65o planer bed? I have one of these too and need to replace the bearings as well.