Caster Wheels on English Wheel?

[Gene_Olson]

This looks interesting Jim.
Are you using them on all points?
Is there a rubber foot on the leveler pad?
I was just wondering in terms of traction vs skating on a smooth floor.

I might try this with two solid mounts on the back. (I already have a drawer full of those from salvage.)

[jmvoigt1]

I use them on all points, and they do have a rubber pad bottoms. They are really handy. I bought them from a place in burnsville on hwy 13 that sells casters, they were about 20 bucks each.http://www.castersupply.com/NAV/leveling_casters.htm
Here's another cool site.

[Dawai]

I got mad, cut the casters off my e-frame.

I installed a 2x2 socket so I had a place to mount the HF strap bender, the Model3 bender and it would "move" and made me mad one time too often.

Webpage Question? is that Mario Barth inks or Dynamic? sure are bright. I was building stainless tattoo machines for a while here. They last forever. China started copying so I quit when the ebay money fell out. They still don't post a good swing-gate SS machine. For a while, a piece of skillet-blackened hand-made iron crap was selling for 3x what a surgically polished machine was. The surgical machine would never rust. Anyways, eye troubles so I don't tattoo anymore. I sold autoclave, MY hand-drawn flash, machines and power supply a month or so back.

[chopperrr]

This is my idea for an E wheel. It is simple, and I don't know if it works I have yet to build a big E wheel. This is just an idea. I still have to work on it.



The only thing is that you need to pull up each leg (stand) of the english wheel in order to put in the "screw" and fix the caster in position (this maybe hard with a large E wheel) Then you just roll it to where you want it, pull out the "screws" and it is as firm as it can be. Hope it helped...

Stev-o

[Peter Miles]

Stev-O,

The potential problem of lifting a heavy leg could be addressed by welding or bolting a piece of angle onto the leg just high enough from the bottom to slide a floor jack (or even a bottle jack or an angled pry bar) under the lip of the angle.

Use the lifting tool to lift it high enough to get your insert in and out.

Don't attach the angle to a side that will be an ankle biter. Do attach it high enough on the leg that you can collapse and remove your jack after you pull out the insert.

Or, if you have the ability to lift from above, fasten a pad eye to the top of the machine.

[Jvarnell]

My english wheel is made with a 8" x 2" caster that you can buy from northerntool for $8.00. I had to put it on my lathe and true the surface. I have been using it with hard anvils for 2 years without any problems. my whole e wheel cost me $100.00 to build. A 2000 lb trailor jack. The trailor jack has 4 5/16 screws set at 90 deg. of each other to keep the anvil still while wheeling. Look at my album to see it. Two of the set screws ride in the keyway of the Jack. I bought the jack at Fleet Farm for $12.00. You can build a e-wheel cheep if you think about how it works and not worry about what other people think of your design.

http://www.metalmeet.com/photopost/s...500&ppuser=194

[chopperrr]

Originally Posted by Peter Miles

Stev-O,

The potential problem of lifting a heavy leg could be addressed by welding or bolting a piece of angle onto the leg just high enough from the bottom to slide a floor jack (or even a bottle jack or an angled pry bar) under the lip of the angle.

Use the lifting tool to lift it high enough to get your insert in and out.

Don't attach the angle to a side that will be an ankle biter. Do attach it high enough on the leg that you can collapse and remove your jack after you pull out the insert.

Or, if you have the ability to lift from above, fasten a pad eye to the top of the machine.

My idea was to integrate some kind of lever system. But as I have never seen a big E wheel "in person" (there are none in my town, or in the country as far as I know) I can not estimate the weight of it. The jack system sounds great. At first it seemed complicated- it takes time to lift each leg and position the wheels, then lower it down, and all of it again when you place it where you want(not to damage the floor by just puling the jack out). But then it occured to me that you probably will not move it every day, so it is not such a problem.

[Peter Miles]

Position the angles a little higher and you could cut a piece of steel or a wooden 4x4 to span a pair of legs and do two at a time.

Or not bother with casters on those two legs at all and just use the floor jack to pull it around.

[jvo]

Okay, who crashed the site earlier this afternoon???? I already had this all typed out, and hit submit, and it all disappeared. Oh well, here we go again.

In the beginning......Jesse James invented the e-wheel(at least that's what Kerry posted a while back) and Bugly Tools made a few things to go along with it. When I designed this system to move my e-wheel around, I decided to use the skateboard trolleys left over from when my son broke his in two many years ago. (No, I didn't really steal a skateboard from my neighbor's kid.) I couldn't bear to throw them away, they've been laying under my workbench for many years. I thought I could use them, and the wheels off my old roller blades to build an out-feed table for my table saw, or some rollers for welding pipe, or whatever.

I started by laying a chunk of lumber from the back legs of my e-wheel to the front leg, and by lifting this lumber beside the front leg, then measuring how high I had to lift it in order for the back legs to come off the floor. I made up some brackets to hold the roller blade wheels, and used a 5/16 bolt as an axle. I found out later in the developmental stages that I had to use some washers between the sides of the bracket and the roller blade wheel to keep the bearings in place when weight was put onto the wheels. The bearings popped out of the rubber roller blade wheels, and the washers kept them in place afterwards. I welded the brackets onto the back of the back legs of the e-wheel frame, with the roller blade wheels touching the floor. Originally, I was afraid the rubber wheels would squash and not lift the heavy (and I mean HEAVY) frame off the floor, but it isn't a problem. If you're afraid, find some old roller blades with steel wheels (good luck), or buy some old caster wheels made of steel.

The front trolley is straight off the skateboard, as you can see in the Round Tube for E-Wheel post. It also needed some steel washers as the roll characteristics were extreme with the poly bushings still in place. Gotta go now, have a driver's meeting to attend, will finish this post later. John V.O.
Back again. The pics hopefully are self-explanatory. Again, I fooled around and measured how high to make everything to comfortably lift the back legs off the floor, in order to pull (or push) the e-wheel frame around. I had to bend the handle somewhat to get it to the proper working height. When I made the plate that bolts to the top of the trolley, I had to radius the front corners, of course, so they wouldn't hit the front e-wheel frame leg. Also, because of the angle of the front leg, I had to radius the underside of the plate for clearance. The bolt that goes through the front of the plate, and acts as the pivot pin, or fifth wheel pin, ( or horsecock, as we call it in the oil patch), is made from a simple bolt. Once used for the first time, the threads of the bolt that go through the hole in the plate on the front of the leg, are instantly destroyed. Thus, if you feel the need to remove the bolt, ( because it will bend several times, till you get a big enough hole drilled in the plate it engages into) you will need to cut it off. I can't remember exactly what size hole I eventually drilled it out to, but its several sizes larger than the bolt, because when you start to put the trolley under it, the bolt is about a 45 degree angle before you push the trolley handle down, to lift the front of the frame. This is a trial and error process, but will eventually be handled, I'm sure, by the Research and Development Team at Bugly Tools head office.

This system will definitely be faster than cranking a trailer jack, or a floor jack, or vertical bolts such as the design a few years ago by a noted rod magazine ( I can't remember which one). I wanted it to be quick and easy to move, and it definitely is, so I actually WOULD move it when I wanted. That way, I can easily clean under it, or move it where I want to whenever I want to. I only takes seconds to put the trolley under the front and drag it away from the wall.

It must be noted, as with the Bugly Tools Stump Puller, that all patents pending, copyright issues, etc. have been turned over to Bugly Tools head office. They will be doing all advertising and marketing of this design. Some individuals have already been granted unlimited use, but beware that Bugly Tools may choose to deny access, as this unit may be marketed in the future, hopefully for less than $4000.00 in a package deal with the Bugly Tools Stump Puller. Please contact Bugly Tools head office for details. John V.O.

I should add also, that my garage floor isn't perfectly level, as a gross amateur did the concrete pour and finishing. Unfortunately, I couldn't sue myself, so I am stuck with the results. When I pull this unit around, occasionally one of the rear legs will skid on the floor. My floor is bare concrete, but if your floor has a low spot, and some pretty epoxy on the floor, it could cause a small scrape. That said, Bugly Tools International division of Western Canada is in no way responsible for recovering or recoating your floor. If in doubt, please contact Bugly Tools head office on this issue also. John V.O.

[Avalonjr]

Where does that text go when it disappears? It must be in a temporary file on your computer.... I've had this happen a couple of times and went looking for the file since I didn't want to retype everything. I never did find it, but I know its there...