GemLap Saw All Cleaned Up-Bearings have been removed.

With that saw's age it could have packed bearings, insert bearings, or a water pump bearing with a permanently fixed arbor shaft threaded on the blade end. If you'd like to take the pulley off of the saw arbor and take a photo of the bearing end where the shaft protrudes it might help us determine what type of bearings are in there. If they are sealed insert bearings they should be fairly easy and inexpensive to replace. If it's a water pump bearing similar to what the Rock Rascal model "J" uses then that can be more difficult to find and more expensive.

To replace the water pump style bearing you'd probably have to first locate a generic stock bearing that will fit and then find a machine shop willing to thread the saw end of the shaft for you. A lot of machine shops won't touch that job because the steel on those is so hard they are difficult to cut threads in. One shop told me the threaded shaft type water pump bearings are threaded before the steel is hardened, not after. I once did find a local machine shop that agreed to thread one for me but afterwards said he would never do it again becasue it ruined his cutting bit.

Larry C.

Wow, that is different. I thought about taking parts from my other GemLap saw and moving them to this new one, but those parts are different too. My two saws are more similar than yours is to mine.

QuailRiver, I tried to get the pulley off this morning, but it was stuck on the shaft pretty well. I'll try again later.

While I had the two GemLaps setting side by side, I tried spinning both blades by hand. Although the other one is much quieter, they both spin for almost exactly the same time before stopping. Drummond Island Rocks may be right that there's nothing wrong with my saw. It's just much louder than any of the other three saws I own. My wife noticed the difference upstairs too.

Those compact bearing units commonly used on saws can be cumbersome.
The video sounds like the roar of a dry ball bearing.

Looks like a ball bearing pressed into the blue outer tube. Not sure, but looks like outer race and black seal. It is likely.
1- remove shaft unit
2-remove blade and pulley.
3-see if you can get tiny number off of ball bearings if so equiped, order replacements. May have to be removed first to get numbers.
4-clean shaft with fine sand paper
5-start pressing shaft and bearings out. Maybe a car shop can handle the pressing operations.
6-Remove and replace bearings and press it all back together.

-IF- it does have bearings... Could be a bronze bushing, but if that was true it should have a grease fitting. So my vote is sealed ball bearings.

Me personally would take it to the local car mechanic and let him dismantle the shaft unit after removing it.

Suspected ball bearing. Shaft unit should have a shaft, two ball bearings(one on each end) and the outer tube(painted blue).

I borrowed one from auto mechanic
Harbor Freight as them pretty cheap

your right james !



meant to post these for removing the pulley

10-4. Pulley may be a challenge too judging from rust on shaft.

The gear puller set Mr.Mohs posted is what I use to remove stubborn pulleys and flanges. Harbor Freight sells the set for $22.99.
www.harborfreight.com/3-piece-three-jaw-puller-set-8832.html

Larry C.

Yep. A good bearing press looks to be the path.
Looking up Peek's Auto Repair's phone number.
I suppose the whole unit replacement may be an option if still available.

Rockoonz, I just ran it for about five minutes like you recommended. It didn't get hot at all, not even warm. The belt was slightly warm, but not hot. I loosened the belt a bit too.