Caster-nation on Caster Upgrades

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everettdavis
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Caster-nation on Caster Upgrades

Post by everettdavis »

I know there are a number of threads and posts on the subject with lots of photos

I did not include photos

I use just words here to describe how I recently described this in a Facebook forum after getting a private message to ‘describe’ the process

It is a thinking and envisioning pathway. It is not the be all end all discussion that hopefully frames the discussion and captures the variables that (can) be in play based on vintage and components present you have to work with.


Excellent upgrade. One word of hesitation as there is some diversity in what folks have.

What if the original casters stem length was just a tad shorter than the new stem lengths? Some but not all have been through the years.

Next, what if the bored lift mechanism depth that the stem resides in was not as deeply bored?

Some vary. Old vs Mid vs Later vs Present vintage assembly. With millions made over decades by varying vendors of Shopsmith, it’s easy to see slightly variant components can introduce an issue for your specific upgrade.

That said, take some time to measure what you have before you drill holes.

*If your original casters aren’t bent over or deformed*

Example: using your original casters, fully seated:
1 - lift it to first step. Measure your floor clearance at each corner and record it.

Now go to the second position and record those.

Suspend (securely) your unit on 2x4 stack and pop out original casters.

Measure stem length old vs new.

Insert the new casters and seat them.

Do they reach the plungers frame or do they sit just off the frame with a gap revealing the stem above the swivel?

Technically the plunger frame should sit on the top of the ball bearing top plate.

Original casters did not have that ball bearing swivel plate.

Yes you could fill the gap with fender washers where the visible stem exists and allow it to sit on that plate. It would solve that problem. (You May or May not have it)

Yes, you could disassemble the plunger and machine the hole deeper (I did not say drill. It is hardened)

Yes you could grind down the stem on the new casters, maintaining the rounded profile and polish them smooth allowing them to bottom out.

If you modify anything described above, remeasure after changes.

The measurements you took earlier comparing new heights to old should be considered.

It tells you how much higher the lift is going to be.

You won’t be a happy camper if after drilling and installing new casters, if your Shopsmith legs do not reach the floor and stabilize the machine to use safely.

If you consider the holes existing position and draw a level horizon line through them as the base line, and your lift and clearance worked before, creating another level horizon line at the lift difference measured should be the plane the new holes should be.

The exact location on the plane would be intersection of a line drawn between the centerline of the existing two holes.

Is that where your drilling template suggests?

If not reconsider things before you drill.

That’s my two cents.., ok my $1.75...
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everettdavis
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Re: Caster-nation on Caster Upgrades

Post by everettdavis »

For Lawrence: You stated in your private message that your existing casters were worn, bent and deformed and you could not reliably use those measurements for a base line.

Remember, I stated that it was written as a thinking and envisioning path way.

Remove the old casters, seat the new ones (allowing for any adjustments necessary to the stem, or addition of washers) as described in the first post.

Measure the first position height off the floor in all 4 corners.
Measure the second position height in all 4 corners.
Place it in the 3rd or down position, measure how far off the floor it still is.

Are you following the logic now?

Draw the level horizon base lines through the center of the existing holes.

Calculate the distance the assembly needs to move up to solidly place the greatest corner distance measurement high enough for the highest corner in the down position to reach the floor.

Add perhaps 1/8" to 3/16" to that and precisely draw a new level horizon line that far up which should be the plane the center line of the new holes should be, making all four corners exactly the same.

As before, The exact location on the new plane would be intersection of a line drawn between the center line of the existing two holes.

Is that where your drilling template suggests?

If not reconsider things before you drill.

It goes without saying, or should, that you only do this on a verified level and flat floor surface.

Everett
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everettdavis
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Re: Caster-nation on Caster Upgrades

Post by everettdavis »

Now that folks have had a chance to view this in text only format, for those who need visual references I used a modified drawing that Dusty did in post https://www.shopsmith.com/ss_forum/view ... 24#p255124

I added the red lines (original holes) and green lines (new holes) and yellow line that intersects center-line of both original holes and establishes the point on the line for the new horizon lines.

As I said in 2nd post You must do this on a level floor to start with, and accordingly, the horizon lines must be level, parallel to the floor.

Dusty discussed that he had done 3 Mark V's with this setup and the distance as you can see between original and new horizon lines was 1 9/16" exact center-line to center-line, [yours may be that] which allowed his base ends for the bench to rest on the floor in the fully retracted position.

Read through that whole thread. Know what you have to work with before you do anything.

Everett
Caster Dimensions from Dustys Drawing.png
Caster Dimensions from Dustys Drawing.png (474.13 KiB) Viewed 7830 times
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