Tools, Sharpening and Power Machinery - Belt sander repair

I have a Craftsman 3 inch belt sander and the sleeve bearing on the drive roller has worn out. I removed the retaining ring but can not get the rear roller off. Any advice how to remove the rear roller would be greatly appreciated.

I may be reading this wrong, but why would you need to remove the rear driven roller in order to remove the front drive roller? Usually, the roller will slide off the shaft. Make sure there is not a washer that has fallen into the retaining ring slot, keeping it from sliding off.
If you have a small brass hammer, tapping the end of the shaft may help dislodge anything that could be holding it to the shaft. Post back if I misread it.

Larry,

The drive roller is the rear roller and that is the one with the worn out bearing. The front roller is fine. I'm trying to figure out how to remove the rear roller.

OK, roger that. The one I have (4x24) the front is drive. So all is clear on the shaft after you removed the retaining ring? No washer, etc. to stop it?

Larry,

I got the roller off. I decided to try your suggestion about tapping it. I put a screwdriver on one end of the roller and put some upward pressure on it while tapping on the center shaft. It's a really tight friction fit with a "D" key to keep it from rotating but it came off with the tapping.

Now I have to dismantle the other side of the sander to get at the sleeve bearing. I may never get it reassembled correctly but nothing lost, since it's living on borrowed time now with the bearing worn out.

Thanks again for the suggestion.

Frank

Frank, glad you got it off. I would have suggested the screwdriver, but inevitably, too much pressure will crack a housing, and I figured you would do that on your own. Yeah, my father owned this one, and so far, just replacing the timing belt is the only maintenance I have had to do with it. So until it dies completely, I will keep it around. Good luck.