On Tue, 8 May 2007, Kenneth Lewis wrote:
> Unfortunately the puller's jaws were a tad too wide to insert into
> either of the bearings I was trying to remove.

I have pulled a bearing before using just one of the jaws in the puller.
The hole in the bearing was big enough for the lip of one jaw to fit
through, but not both jaws.  If you're just using one jaw, make sure
there is clear space behind the slide hammer; sometimes the one jaw
slips out and you end up slinging the hammer behind you.

Another idea: decide to keep the puller, and grind/file its jaws
narrower to fit the bearing.  Don't grind the lip down unless you
absolutely have to - just grind on either side of the jaw to make it
narrower.  Then you can return the slide hammer and get most of your
money back.

You can either rent the slide hammer again later, or casually acquire
the pieces you need to make one to fit the puller.  Somewhere recently,
I have seen a rather clever way of making a slide hammer out of pipe
fittings, but I don't remember where I saw it.

Matt Roberds