Roller pins

On my ten, the rollers weren't lubricated often enough. The brass bushings were all shucked out, and the shafts were worn almost in half!😮 If that tells you anything, the shafts are pretty soft! I plan on making replacements out of some 4340 or 4350 cold rolled, 1 1/4 if memory serves, but its been a few years since i've worked on that project. At least my shells and tracks aren't worn out like the guts of the rollers and idlers were!!!

Rick

I made mine over sized by using eighth inch over sized rod and machined the ends, Then I opened the bushings the same. Had the shaft hardend after machining. Just make sure the over sized center does not end up longer than the bushing or you will have to make your thrust washer center dia. bigger. This worked great for me. Hope this helps. [email protected]

That's a great idea! I'll have to check my bushings to see how much oversize I'll have to go. Thanks for the tip!

Rick

That's a great idea! I'll have to check my bushings to see how much oversize I'll have to go. Thanks for the tip!

Rick

I forgot to add that I did the same for the front idlers. [email protected]

I need to build up a couple of rollers. I was thinking I could just build them up with regular weld wire and turn them to smooth out the welds. Do you guys think this would hold up for a while or should I use hard facing wire to do this.

You did not say what type of welding, Stick or wire?
Hard face is much harder than rolls were originally.Most should not be put on more than two layers thick.
Have not checked lately , but years ago a lot of the so called buildup rods were just repackaged Low Hydrogen ( 7018, 8018, 1201😎 at two to three times the price. Some were legit.
The answer is low hydrogen rod works good-check chemistry and pick one with a high amount of manganese
Flux cored wire also works good

Thanks for the reply. I was going to use wire, not rods. I do have some flux core wire available.

I learned quite a bit from an old cat man around my area about doing build-ups on rollers and idlers. Use 7018 for your first pass, it will mix good with your base metal and work as a "trasition zone" for your buildup material. Then use a work hardening buildup rod such as weld-mold, or 3-IP(can't remember the brand...what little I have left isn't in the original box anymore). The work hardening rod will be machinable "as welded" , then as you use the rollers, the steel will toughen up considerably and will wear less that the original roller steel. Using hard-surfacing alloys on rollers is a big NO-NO, it will prematurely wear out your rails. You use the same procedure on idlers, except for the final step, if you want to spend the $$ you could do a "weave pass" of hard surfacing on the idler in a 3/8 to 1/2 inch diagonal checkerboard pattern. The old boy told me that once you do that, the idler will last far beyond you wear the guts right out of her!! Is what happens, is dirt fills up the voids in the checkerboard and acts as a cushion between the rail and the idler, lessening the idler wear. The hard surfacing rod he used was Nicro-Mang (not sure of the brand), I've never done it due to the $$. Remember if you have a solid instead of spoked idler, cut a hole it it so it can breath, or the head will bulge it. On the rollers, do the wellding with the roller about 3/4 submerged in a pan of water. Weld on one for a while, then when it starts getting hot, switch to another roller and weld for awhile. This way you can weld on them without pulling the guts out, or ruining the seals.

Good Luck, and Happy Arcing!!!

Rick