New Wheels for Power Stands or Pro Planer

[dusty]

Has anyone successfully installed the 3" casters on any of the SPT. I would like to do so on my Pro Planer but I don't believe the caster assembly can be raised far enough on the Pro planer legs.

[chapmanruss]

One reason we change to the 3" wheel upgrade is because it is a better quality wheel assembly than the original. Has anyone found a better quality 2" wheel that is equal to the quality of the 3" wheel? Some company sells a 3" upgrade wheel on eBay different from the Shopsmith ones. Maybe they have a better quality one. Just a thought.

[dusty]

One reason we change to the 3" wheel upgrade is because it is a better quality wheel assembly than the original. Has anyone found a better quality 2" wheel that is equal to the quality of the 3" wheel? Some company sells a 3" upgrade wheel on eBay different from the Shopsmith ones. Maybe they have a better quality one. Just a thought.

Finding a higher quality wheel than that included in the 3" upgrade is going to be hard to do.

There is some room for improvement however in the 2" caster. I have been searching the market place but have not found anything. The shortcoming, as I see it, is not in the wheel so much as it is in the caster itself. The Shopsmith caster just does not holdup. Without a spec sheet I am unable to determine the load rating but I have strong suspicions that it is not enough for the PrpPlaner.

I am contemplating a set of these. The specs are not perfect but....

The stem is 1/16" too long. Thinking I might be able to compensate with a flat washer.

http://apollocaster.com/store/2-x-11316 ... 66322.html

[everettdavis]

One reason we change to the 3" wheel upgrade is because it is a better quality wheel assembly than the original. Has anyone found a better quality 2" wheel that is equal to the quality of the 3" wheel? Some company sells a 3" upgrade wheel on eBay different from the Shopsmith ones. Maybe they have a better quality one. Just a thought.

Finding a higher quality wheel than that included in the 3" upgrade is going to be hard to find.

There is some room for improvement however in the 2" caster. I have been searching the market place but have not found anything. The shortcoming, as I see it, is not in the wheel so much as it is in the caster itself. The Shopsmith caster just does not holdup. Without a spec sheet I am unable to determine the load rating but I have strong suspicions that it is not enough for the PrpPlaner.

I am contemplating a set of these. The specs are not perfect but....

The stem is 1/16" too long. Thinking I might be able to compensate with a flat washer.

http://apollocaster.com/store/2-x-11316 ... 66322.html

That looks promising. I might go with the caster without the lock which in quantities of 8 are just $6.00 each. Each caster is rated at 300 lbs so it should hold up as 4 would support 1,200 lbs.

http://apollocaster.com/store/index.php ... s_id=66323

Everett

[dusty]

Thank you, Everett. I did not locate the casters without the brake when I did the search.

If I determine that I cannot redrill the ProPlaner Stand to accept the 3" casters I will most likely go with these. Price differential is not enough to talk about so the decision is based strictly on functionality and adaptability.

Edit: I am still at the drawing board. Determining compatibility is not as easy as I thought it would be. I don't have the new caster in question but I do have a Shopsmith 2" caster. In comparing it with the Shopsmith 3" caster I found a difference that I did not expect. The stems are not the same length. The 2" wheel has a stem that is 5/16" longer .

I am unwilling to say that I got this wheel assembly from Shopsmith simply because there are years (many) involved and I do know that I have purchased wheels in that time. Nevertheless, the wheels that are currently in my ProPlaner have this extended stem so this may be what is contributing to my wheel wear. My wheels on this SPT seem to be at a slight angle (off vertical).

I think I am going to have to buy four wheels just to do a test fit. I am very interest6ed in the forums thoughts regarding the impact of different stem lengths.

Stem Comparison.jpg (46.69 KiB) Viewed 8499 times

Notice the wear marks on the longer stem.

Edit:

Some of the mystery solved. I bought wheels and installed them in Shopsmith casters. So the 2" casters that I have are all from Shopsmith. Now for part of the mystery I have attached a photo of one of these wheels installed in the caster assembly on my Pro Planer. In the photo you see the caster stem inserted into the plunger. Note that the caster stem does not go all the way into the plunger. Full insertion is prevented because the stem is longer than the bore in the plunger. BTW the plunger is shown in the full up (maximum lift level) position of the caster assembly .

Shopsmith Caster Plunger Mating.jpg (73.94 KiB) Viewed 8475 times

[JPG]

I am assuming the SS caster in your pix was of fairly recent vintage.

Older casters have a 'ball' end.

The piston bore has a corresponding round shaped bottom.

The Mark VII pistons have a bad trait of cracking/splitting.

I consider that to be the result the caster protruding out of the lower end on the piston as shown in your pix.(BTW I believe the caster is dropped down about 1/16" and is not inserted fully into the piston bore in your pix)

So if the stem is shorter, the washer fix makes sense.(lowers the wheel)

Since the 'current' casters do not have the ball end(at least they do not look so in the pix), I think a shorter stem is preferred.

I be describing older pistons above re the bore end.

I am amazed the planer casters have stems that are too long. I suspect the same cause as some deficient motor belts a while back.

[dusty]

I am assuming the SS caster in your pix was of fairly recent vintage.

Older casters have a 'ball' end.

The piston bore has a corresponding round shaped bottom.

The Mark VII pistons have a bad trait of cracking/splitting.

I consider that to be the result the caster protruding out of the lower end on the piston as shown in your pix.

So if the stem is shorter, the washer fix makes sense.(lowers the wheel)

Since the 'current' casters do not have the ball end(at least they do not look so in the pix), I think a shorter stem is preferred.

I be describing older pistons above re the bore end.

I am amazed the planer casters have stems that are too long. I suspect the same cause as some deficient motor belts a while back.

We gotta be careful here. I can not swear that these are Shopsmith casters. They may be some that I purchased from a different source. What I have shown and commented on are simple "the casters that have been installed on my ProPlaner" for a very long time.

Unfortunately, I cannot check the casters on my other SPT because they are all packed away in a POD.

If the consensus is that casters with 1/4" shorter stem will work I plan to order some of the alternate casters.

[reible]

I don't own the shopsmith planner nor the stand but I do have the their router stand and have a question for you. The router stand came as a kit that you put together and when I did that there was a lot of slop in the holes. If the planner stand is made the same way then do you think if you were to "loosen" the bolts you might be able to adjust the legs enough to get the new wheels and assembly to slide up a bit and fit? Of course they are other factors like the pedal position and the new casters to look at but I'm just saying things to take a second look before moving on.

Second question is about the weight of a pro planner, is it greater then the weight of a shopsmith? I'm guessing they are using the same casters so why would they be more prone to failure unless it is a weight difference?

The shopsmith I got it 1976 has had two wheel changes, one when I noticed a lot of wear, maybe in the early 1990's and then when I went to the new casters. I think pulling it out on the driveway is what is tough on my wheels, a very ruff driveway at that.

I have also gotten new casters for some of the used machines I own. None in the last couple of years but none of them have looked like the ones pictured. I had tried to find a replacement at the local hardware stores and a few catalogs but could not. The price of the ones from shopsmith use to be a pretty good deal. And given that all of the machines I have are pretty old, late 1970's early 1980's I think that is pretty good wear wise. At $4 a caster and getting say 20 years out of them sounds like a deal. Now again I have not gotten any of late and I can not say if the quality is the same or not. I seem to remember paying like $2.50 each so that might give you an idea as to how long ago.

Ed

[dusty]

I don't know what the ProPlaner weights but I don't believe it is heavier than a Mark V but if it is it is not enough to make a significant difference in caster fatique. It is not the wheels that have failed. It is the metal part that wraps over the top of the wheel (the part that has holes for the axles).

The price for Shopsmith casters is not out of line.

There is a little slop in the mounting holes but not enough to facilitate "adjustment".

There is enough room to redrill holes per the 3" instruction sheet but the support members that form the shelf above the whels would likely interfer with the pedal travel. Not worth the risk.

I am going to order the previously mentioned 2" casters for a test. I am sure that they will work. Swivel radius being the critical criteria these swivel in a smaller radius than do the Shopsmith casters. If these don't work on the ProPlaner I'll have $40 worth of casters to use elsewhere.

Report to follow in a week or so.

[robinson46176]

OK, I'm just going to start punching keys and see what comes out... I may be trying to remember from way back maybe into the old email list days but I have already forgotten today's lunch.
There is a notion in my head that at some point somebody once said that the top of the caster stem was to be a small area (like a dome) and the little cylinder (piston) bore was to be a flat bottom. I think that it was supposed to be like that so that the contact area would be quite small to allow the caster to caster easier than if the caster stem made full flat contact at the top of the stem. I believe the same thing applies if the stem is too short and the cylinder sits tight against the top of the wheel yoke. Even with a washer between the caster and the base of the cylinder that adds contact area and so adds friction to the swiveling of the caster. I know that the cylinder "can" swivel in the casting but that is a hard steel against a soft aluminum casting which is pretty much the technical definition of a brake.
I'm kind of fond of casters that swivel on a ring of ball bearings above the wheel rather than in the stem but they also can have problems if the bearings fill up with sawdust. Nothing worse than a caster that does not want to caster.
What I "think" I remember was someone trimming the stem a tiny bit if needed (dimensions to be determined at the time) and inserting a single, drop in fit, very hard steel ball bearing ball so that all weight swiveled on the tiny contact areas of the hard ball.
I hope that makes sense... Did I just hear 37 people throw their mouse and run screaming from the room?


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