2

I am building a French-cleat mounted grinding system (see video below) from a motor for the purpose of sharpening and honing woodworking chisels and what seems to be a couple of "pillow blocks" with a shaft going through both. I'm not certain these so called "pillow blocks", because of this: The inner "thing" (maybe it is called a "bearing", which seems might be made of brass) does not actually move which is surprising to me, because at the top of the "pillow block" are oilers, which I've filled with motor oil, but that had no effect on the moving of that inner "thing".

Looking into the shaft of that inner "thing", I do not see any spiral flutes or holes that would dispense any oil. Had there been such a spot for delivery of oil, then I could understand why those inner "things" would not, or should not, rotate, because the inner shaft would rotate and then the oil be dispensed around the outer surface of the shaft through those holes.

So, are these pillow blocks, or some other type of thing I've not seen before? And is that inner "thing" actually supposed to move, or not?

enter image description here

enter image description here

French-cleat mounted grinding system

It has recycled hinges underneath the bottom plywood that the old motor is bolted to, from the underside:

Video of French-cleat mounted grinding system

bgoodr
  • 467
  • 1
  • 4
  • 10

1 Answers1

4

What you have there is a sintered bronze bearing pillow block. What you probably need is a ball bearing pillow block.

Sintered bronze is made by filling a mold with bronze powder, then subjecting it to pressure and sometimes heat to form the desired article. Sintered bronze is porous. It will absorb a lot of oil and release it slowly over time. Light machine oil is the usual lubricant.

The shaft that you installed will quickly destroy the bearing because of its rough finish. Sintered bronze bearings work best with hardened steel shafts that have been ground and polished to a mirror finish.

MTA
  • 15,038
  • 1
  • 22
  • 53