I had a Powermatic bench top Model 14 oscillating spindle sander over the weekend. It had a problem only with vertical oscillation working, but everything else was really working great.

 

I know all the parts do not interchange but for general use you could download the manual for the Jet it was replaced by.

 

OK, so this is going to turn into something of a restore thread. Long story short, oscillation did not work when I got it. Information has been hard to come by on the web and I didn't think I could fix it and so planned to sell. However, I've been getting more information and find I can get the parts from Powermatic so I've decided to restore and make it part of my shop.

This was made in Taiwan which means I can't put information and restore thread on owwm.org so I'm posting what I can here to perhaps ask for help and advice, and to provide some information for anyone else with one of these guys.

First of all here is the user manual. Powermatic has been helpful in providing this and other information. If you are taking this or other work on I recommend you call their customer service.

Here is my sander after cleaning up, but before restoring. (It was pretty filthy and the top had a bit of rust.)

So once I had the schematic I could be a bit more confident about cracking this baby open. Got the table and dust chute off, then the cover plate, and once I disconnected the switch wiring I could take out the motor and gear housing. Didn't take long to figure out the problem (or at least part of it).

Worm gear on the shaft totally stripped. Need to replace that and the wheel. It's a greasy, sawdusty mess under here as well. That'll need a good cleaning and relube. Here are more photos underneath.

 

Well, that would be the achilles heel, the Jet now and other "heavy duty" bentop and free standing OSS use oil bath gears. At least one of the Grizzly OSS uses a polyurethane gear, which cuts down on the noise of a non-oilbath helical gearset but I would guess wears faster.

 

Yeah, frankly I don't think it was one of Powermatic's best designs. Likely why it was relatively short-lived. Jet still makes it as the JBOS-5 and many of the parts are interchangeable.

 

Here's a picture from up top. Main spindle, top bearing - why on earth this bearing is not closed I'll never know. It was filled with gunk. In addition to the worm gears I've also ordered new bearings for the top and bottom.

Got the main casting off without too much trouble and disconnected the connecting rods.

Wheel came off easily.

Here's where I ran into the first bit of trouble. The top portion is supposed to oscillate up and down. It's the worm gear that drives that. Obvioiusly the gear is shot, but perhaps it's because the top section here doesn't want to budge! Can't get it to move. Hmmmm...need to get that off if I am to replace the gear on the shaft.

 

I had to call in the calvary. A neighbor/friend had a bearing puller set with a four pound weight that I could get under there and persuade the top assembly off. Looks like a nylon (?) bushing that is supposed to slide up and down on the arbor. There was no sliding going on here. The other fun was that the philips head screw holding the key in the arbor shaft had obviously been worked on before and was half stripped. I managed to complete that job and couldn't get it off trying three different screwdrivers. Then I remembered that handy screw remover freebie that "The Handyman Club of America" sent me. Maybe it will earn it's keep? Not a chance! Piece of c#@p. :wallbash: They should sell it as a countersink...

Finally got it out by drilling and getting a better screw remover in there (again, thanks to my neighbor).

Another look at the bottom side of the main shaft and transmission. Need to get those snap rings off to replace the bearing.

Got it, but the outer snap ring flew off straight onto my belly where it stuck due to the grease. :blink: Appropriately, I was wearing my Woodworking Show t-shirt.

With a wood mallet I was able to get the main shaft out of the transmission. The small top bearing there was full of gunk on the bottom side too. Definitely needs replacing. The big bearing on the bottom is stuck something good. Barely got it to budge with my (small) arbor press. My neighbor is taking it to a friend who has more serious equipment. Given the lack of sliding I may need to replace the part anyway. I'll try to get a PM tech on the phone tomorrow for advisement.

That's where we are today folks. Stay tuned. Helpful hints are most appreciated! Hopefully we'll get this puppy up and running again like it should be. :thumbsup:

 

The Jet now uses a sealed oil bath, I wonder if it is possible to retrofit it...

They built this at about the same time they built the PM 43 14" welded steel bandsaw, PM had always had one if not the best bandsaws in their weght/price class but that saw was SAD. Powermatic did not make the move to Taiwan well, they just didn't understand it, though they have gotten much better at offshore production now.

 

Spoke with a Powermatic technician today and confirmed the need to get the main shaft part due to age and wear. Got that ordered. He said they were out of stock for a long time and he was surprised that they got them back in. I asked him what to use for lube and he said white lithium grease is the best non-harding grease now-a-days for this application. Should have the parts in a week or so.

 

I was very happy to get the box of parts yesterday and tore into it. :clap: Unfortunately, they sent me two of the same lower bearing! The bags are labeled differently but the bearing itself has the exact same markings. These fit on the lower part of the spindle. The upper bearing is much smaller. Have to wait until Monday to call about it. I can only make modest progress without it. Looks like I'll be waiting until next weekend to get this one done. :glare:

 

Hi!
This is just another example of poor import performance... (and we do own some Grizzly machines) :blink:. This "hope and pray" attitude that the Asian Manufacturer's will "step up to the plate very soon" is killing American Industry! Yes, the "suits" claim that the Asian producers are creating USA jobs is flawed to a degree...we are now relagated to sales, service and "parts mgt.", few, which pay our workers much, and the manufacturing jobs we used to have are taking advantage of workers overseas...result, poor quality and lost USA jobs !
Hence, the power is left in us, the consumers! We must demand more :yes:! It's called "buying power', and is the American way :thumbsup:!
Good luck with your "jet quest", really !
BTW...we are moderates!
Best,
Marena and Vinny

 

Finally got to work on this again last night. I reassembled the worm gear and it fit flawlessly.

I also got the new bearings on the spindle and assembled it with the transmission. Everything is testing out well. The new spindle travels much easier than the old one did.

Powermatic wanted $40 for the upper bearing. I thought that must be a typo on their pricing sheet and told them I'd get it elsewhere. It was only $5 at Accurate Bearing so I got it there - sealed this time.

 

Well, I'm afraid I forgot to get photos as the reassembly progressed. Things were getting a bit messy anyway as I got things good and greased up. I think the key will be to use the dust collection to keep as much dust out of the workings as possible since it doesn't have the sealed oil bath design. Hard to tell from the photos but the sander is on, spinning and oscillating up and down. Woo Hoo! Feels good to get something fixed! :thumbsup:

 

Very happy to see you solved the bearing problem. I would have been royally ticked off to get the same bearing with two different part numbers.

Good that you were able to get a bearing to fit, and for only $5.

All sanders generate copious amounts of dust. I would not want to operate any without decent dust collection.

You now have a very useful addition to your shop. :thumbsup:

 

I've heard great things about Accurate Bearing through OWWM.org and wasn't disappointed. With the 2" dust port I'll hook up my shop vac anytime I'm using.

I think the ultimate problem was a poor choice of grease. They clearly specify non-hardening grease and there was definitely some hardened grease that I cleaned up. It ended up practically fusing the spindle to the motor shaft instead of lubing it. Since the PM tech said to use white lithium grease that's what I did. Hopefully will last a while.

 

Do you have a part number and a phone number for that gear? I need one as well.

 

Hey Scotman, here is the shaft gear:

Item: 6286928
Quantity: 1
Description: WORM SHAFT JBOS-5

Walter Meier customer service is 1-888-804-7129

If you have questions they can't answer don't hesitate to ask to speak with a tech.

 

Outstanding! Thank you so much!

 

Hi Scot.

I know my following request does not belong in this thread -- so I apologize in advance -- but I am trying to reach you anyway I possible. I saw your 2010 posts pertaining to your Mesquite Hope Chest. I posted a reply to those 2010 posts in the hopes you may see my request to see if you have the project plans for the Mesquite Hope Chest. I did not see any mention of project plans in those 2010 posts. If I could somehow get a copy of those plans, that would be great.

 

Shop Dad: Do you have a part number for the upper bearing that you ordered from Accurate Bearing? Thanks.

 

Hey ET, unfortunately I don't. I have tried to get better about including that type of information in threads but didn't here. It's probably something like a 6204, but if you get the ID and OD with a caliper Lynn at Accurate can probably help you find what you need. Good luck and post if you get it worked out. Doug

 

I will let you know when I get it up and running. Your previous posts and pictures on your rebuild of the Powermatic Model 14 were invaluable to me. Thanks for doing that--it gave me a lot of confidence to take on the project. As soon as I finish taking apart the transmission and getting the bearings out, I will order my parts.

 

Glad you are jumping in. If you get stuck on the gears or some unavailable part you may be able to get a local semi-retired machinist to fab something for you at reasonable cost.

Doug

 

Doug-Do you remember if you had to have the wheel (part 6286473) that is shown in one of your photos machined and drilled in order to fit in the bracket and accommodate the screws? The correct wheel (part 6286944) is no longer available. From your photos, it looks like you have the older style wheel and bracket like mine (they redesigned this for the better on the newer Powermatic and Jet models of the sander by incorporating bearings into the wheel assembly).

 

I was able to reuse the original parts. They were in fine shape.

Doug

 

I have the same powermatic oscillating spindle sander and am replacing the two oscillating gear assemblies. Do you have the part numbers for all the bearings you replaced and where to buy them, my bearings are totally dirty filthy. thanks.