How to Remove a Blind Bearing with Wet Paper
Extract a stubborn blind-hole bearing safely using hydraulic pressure created with wet paper wads, a snug bolt, and hammer strikes.
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🧰 Required Tools & Equipment
- ✓ Ball-peen hammer
- ✓ Close-fitting bolt or drift punch
- ✓ Safety glasses
- ✓ Flathead screwdriver
- ✓ Shop rag
📦 Materials & Supplies
- ✓ Scrap paper or cardboard
- ✓ Water in a small cup
- ✓ Degreaser or brake cleaner
⚠️ Safety Checkpoints & Warnings
- • Wear safety glasses to protect eyes from high-velocity hydraulic spray or paper particles.
- • Ensure the housing is solidly supported on a wooden block so hammer blows do not crack the casting.
📋 Step-by-Step Guide (5 Steps)
Select and Test Drift Sizing
Find a solid steel bolt or drift pin that closely matches the inner race diameter of the bearing with minimal clearance. Slide the bolt into the bearing bore to ensure it fits tightly without binding. Wipe the inner race clean with a shop rag.
- • Bolt sits snugly inside the inner race with virtually no lateral wobble.
- • Using a bolt that is too loose, allowing paper and pressure to blow past the sides.
Prepare and Insert Wet Paper
Tear scrap paper into small thumb-sized pieces and submerge them in water until fully soaked. Pack 4 to 6 wet paper scraps into the center hole of the bearing. Push the paper down through the race using the screwdriver.
- • Wet paper mass packed firmly into the cavity beneath and within the bearing bore.
- • Using dry paper that compresses without transferring hydraulic pressure.
Drive Drift to Build Pressure
Insert the flat end of your drift pin into the bearing center against the wet paper. Strike the top of the drift squarely with moderate hammer blows. The hydraulic force will compress the paper beneath the bearing and force it upward.
- • Drift sinks slightly into the bore as paper compacts under pressure.
- • Hitting at an angle, causing the drift to slip or burr the inner race.
Reload Paper and Repeat Compression
Remove the drift and stuff additional wet paper wads into the cavity. Reinsert the drift and strike firmly again. Repeat this cycling process until hydraulic displacement visibly raises the bearing out of the recess.
- • Gap opening beneath the outer bearing race and the housing pocket.
- • Hammering the drift all the way to metal-on-metal bottoming without reloading paper.
Extract Bearing and Clean Cavity
Lift the completely freed bearing out of the pocket by hand. Dig out the compacted wet paper cake from the blind hole using a screwdriver. Spray the housing pocket with degreaser and wipe completely dry with a rag.
- • Empty, clean housing bore showing bare metal with all paper residue removed.
- • Leaving wet paper compacted in the bottom of the cavity, causing future corrosion.
Credit: inspired by an original tutorial by Kang Maimun — watch the original on YouTube.
Don’t have everything?
- No Close-fitting bolt or drift punch? Wooden dowel wrapped tightly with electrical tape to exact bore diameter
- No Scrap paper? White sandwich bread rolled into dense dough balls