Stripped the hub down ready for rebuild with new bearings. Tapped in the hub drive side bearing, put the axle in & tapped home the non drive side bearing. At this stage, the axle is really difficult to turn & the bearings feel really notchy.
Only things I have noticed are, the axle took some bashing to get out on strip down & the new bearings were a pretty tight fit when putting in. Believe they are tapped fully home & seated properly.
Any thoughts??

Does sound like one of the bearings is not quite square in the hub
Bashing them in can be a pain , often can bodhe a press Useing a qr and some
Sockets

Did you apply a bit of grease to the hub when installing bearings axle might be bent!!!!

If the new bearing didn’t go in straight that would explain why it was a tight fit and why the axle doesn’t spin smoothly. If the bearing was damaged when you drifted it in that would also result in your axle not spinning freely. Might be worth knocking them out and trying again. What are your using to put the bearings in?

Did the pitch change when you were skelping the bearings in? If not, they ain’t seated right!

Smatkins1 – tried both the socket trick & an alloy tube I have which sits down nicely on the inner metal ring of the bearing.
Dickbarton – didn’t notice the pitch change but pretty sure they are seated firmly?

Maybe tapping the bearing in on the inner race alone could pit the race. Should be inner and outer races at the same time or outer if inner is un loaded.

Using the inner race to press the bearing in will wreck the bearing.
A socket or an old bearing on the outer race and pressed in is the best way.

Same as above, if you’ve used the inner race to ‘tap’ the bearing in they’re most likely knacked. You should only use the outer metal race for pressing if you can’t use a press that covers the whole bearing.