Shaft Play in Kalamazoo Bandsaw

[Danegineering]

I'm in the process of restoring a Kalamazoo 816C. The thing was in rather bad shape when I get it. It looked like they had kept it stored behind all the grinders! The end is near, but I made a mistake. When I took apart the gear box for cleaning and bearing checks, I didn't realize that what I thought were metallic seals, were in fact tightly compressed shim stacks. It dawned upon me as I was cleaning them off and they started to separate... Oops!

Before disassembly, I also didn't think to check how much play was in the shaft. It wasn't until I got in too deep that I realized how much care and precision went into the design of that gear box.

On re-assembly, I'm using a different seal material for the main flange gasket as the old one disintegrated, so I'll need to tweak the shim stack regardless.

Does anybody happen to have a Kalamazoo where they can stick an indicator on it and check the shaft play for the motor drive shaft and the drive wheel shaft?

Thanks!

 

[benmychree]

Look for a service manual online.

 

[Danegineering]

Look for a service manual online.

The standard service manual doesn't seem to include a value. Kalamazoo hasn't answered my e-mail yet either. If anybody has a manual with the official value, that'd be glorious, but it wasn't listed in any of the ones I've found online.

 

[benmychree]

Are the shims backing up tapered roller bearings? If so, the end play should be very little.

 

[Danegineering]

Yes. Both shafts are supported by tapered roller bearings. My concern was whether or not Kalamazoo intentionally left a bit of play in there to account for thermal expansion on long cuts, so I am hesitant to shim too tightly.