My Skill 100 planer bearings need to be replaced but I can’t remove the Left side cover. The armature shaft spins freely and so does the the side cover but it will not come off. I’m tempted to pry it off but don’t want to bugger up the housing or cover. Has any one had this problem before, if so what was your solution?
If this were my tool…I’d try to get a thin flathead screwdriver on opposing sides and gently pry. They are a tight fit and I have had trouble with older skil’s doing just that. The slow and gently pry method worked for me.
BTW…there is a bearing on the right side as well. If that one doesn’t come out with the drum then you could be in for a battle.
Once you get the L cover off and about to remove the drum…try and wiggle the drum forward/backward while removing it. This could encourage the R bearing to come out.
Be well,
Dave
…SEND IT TO PeteC. I’ve been using a Skil 100 since 1958. The ONLY things I do to a Skil is change blades, change cords, change brushes, and change triggers. Anything else, I call an expert.
Agreed
It’s maybe rusted on. All bearing bores on Skil’s have steel rings molded-in which get rusted on to the steel bearing outer races. You can try and pry out the whole cutter assembly with cover if you can fit a couple of flat screwdrivers at the back of the cutter head. This will allow you to get penetrating oil on the bearing OD from the inside of the cover and let it set for a couple of days. Don’t pry it from the cover, it will break. Once you get the cover off, you’re going to have a whole new set of problems getting the stuck bearings out of the housings and off the shafts.
Be aware that all the Skil bearings are press-fits on both the shafts and bores, so what you think may be “stuck” really isn’t. In fact the measure of a good Skil is how tightly the all bearings fit. In a Skil where the bearing fits are good, special bearing splitters / pullers are needed to remove and then an arbor press to install the new ones. If the bearings will slide off the shafts or fall out of the housings, the Skil is junk.