Footmaster Levelling Castors

[paulkane1]

I have a Jet 1440 Lathe,because of space restrictions in my workshop,I need to move machines about,Has anyone on this forum ,used the Footmaster brand of castors,on their wood lathe,for moving around,if so,what is their opinion of them ?All help greatly appreciated.

 

[transatlantic]

Can't comment on those castors, but they look mighty expensive!

I'm thinking of doing something like this :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l42K0s6E7vA

Not sure I'll use the exact same approach. To save from a bad back, I'm thinking of incorporating a threaded bolt attached to a length of timber that pushes down onto the castors to do the heavy lifting, that I can quickly drive with a cordless drill.

 

[ScaredyCat]

I'm trying to find a video I watched the other day where some guy was getting rid of his Rockler retractable wheels because they were just unreliable. He made his own, to lift his heavy workbench and it seemed like a really simple foot controlled thing. Still looking for it, will post back if I find it.

Not sure I'll use the exact same approach. To save from a bad back, I'm thinking of incorporating a threaded bolt attached to a length of timber that pushes down onto the castors to do the heavy lifting, that I can quickly drive with a cordless drill.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvqVxYMQY-A seems a good approach to that problem...



.

 

[paulkane1]

Nice piece of thinking

 

[Dave Brookes]

Paul,
Drop an email to Graham Hall at Didcot Woodturners through their website as they have recently made mobile stands/cupboards for the club lathes with some very neat casters that flip up out of the way and the stands are pretty vibration free.

Dave

 

[Duncan A]

I have Footmasters on my Jet 3520B lathe and it is easy enough to move around, all 300kg+ of it with assorted junk on some shelves, and rolling over a carpet.
Mine are the cheaper variety which require a spanner to raise and lower, rather than the built-in lever on the more expensive ones.
As my lathe is heavy, I leave it pretty much permanently on the castors so that I can move it around without any trouble. It does wobble a bit with unbalanced workpieces but I can always lower it if I need to, and it's fine with balanced pieces.
On a lighter lathe like the Jet 1440, I think you'd need to lower the lathe to the floor a little more frequently than I do and, if I was going down that route, I'd make sure I get the ones with built-in levers.
There is a parallelogram (?) lift design which raises and lowers a lathe off and onto the castors far more quickly and I think I'd be inclined to go down that route with some ordinary decent quality castors. I'll see if I can find the design.
Duncan

 

[ScaredyCat]

Found it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei3ADzfbxBE


.

 

[Duncan A]

ScaredyCat's YouTube video is not what I had in mind but there are some good ideas in it.
Or simply splash the cash: https://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-w ... ors-507151
Duncan

 

[Sideways]

I've seen footmaster / clone castors used on some industrial jigs. One caveat for the small shop is I think the castor wheels are solid steel as well as being small diameter. They are a great product but I was always concerned that they would trash the concrete floor in my garage.

 

[transatlantic]

Found it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei3ADzfbxBE


.

Not very compact. I think the one I posted is a neater design

 

[ScaredyCat]

Not very compact. I think the one I posted is a neater design

Perhaps, but you have to be able to physically lift the bench straight up to activate the wheels. With the other style you can use your body weight too if required.


.

 

[transatlantic]

Not very compact. I think the one I posted is a neater design

Perhaps, but you have to be able to physically lift the bench straight up to activate the wheels. With the other style you can use your body weight too if required.


.

Yeah - that's why I was thinking of using some sort of threaded bolt to do it with a driver.