Shopsmith Forums

Dusty and Ed,
Thanks for the suggestions. I did remove all 4 casters and the metal U-shaped brackets at the tops of 3 out of 4 of the casters are noticeably bent, resulting in the stems not being perpendicular to the brackets. I checked my old casters and none of them show the same bending. I had worn the wheels on two of the old casters completely out and the other two down to 1-7/8" in the 27 years before I replaced them. The metal brackets on both sets of casters appear to be the same thickness metal, but either the metal on the 2007 replacements was lower strength or I have set it down that 1-1/2" step too hard a few too many times before I built my ramp.

I checked the mounting hardware and all is tight.

The cams, when operated with the weight of the machine resting on blocks of wood, seem to have the 0", 1/4", and 1/2" travel for the plungers which receive the casters.

I also checked the weight with the headstock and table pushed all the way to each end, and weight at one set of legs varied from 140 lbs to 110 lbs. I have no SPTs that set on either end to add more weight. The one SPT that I have (12" planer) has only been mounted a few times, and never rolled with it mounted.

Based on the conflict with the pedals that I would likely encounter with the Shopsmith Premium Casters, I think I'll look for alternative 3" casters that are not as wide (say 13/16" instead of 1-1/4"), and have load ratings of at least 150 lbs.

In addition to possibly being bent, the caster wheels may be worn down.

The piston appears to move the correct amount. (1/4" + 1/4" = 1/2")

The foot pedals need to be relocated.

UPDATE: I found some 3" Shepherd casters (PRE-30-273-ZN-MNT) which allow me to get more rolling clearance and did not require moving foot pedal to avoid interference. The key (I think) is the width of caster is 13/16" in lieu of 1-1/4" like the premium casters which Shopsmith offers. These are rated for 120 lb dynamic load each. My machine, with a small amount of under bench tubes storage, weighs 140 lbs max on end with headstock and table slid to same end (110 lbs on end away from table and headstock). I would have liked to have had higher load capacity, but doing so requires a wider wheel, which may have meant moving foot pedal. Some manufacturers offer wheels of 15/16" or 1" width, and these might have worked without having to move foot pedals, but I didn't want to take a chance. I opted for donut shaped wheels, and wheel material type is called MonoTech by Shepherd. It is a fairly soft rubbery type material, but had the highest load rating and highest performance ratings of all wheel types they offered in this size. Stem is 7/16" diameter x 1-3/8" long with brass grip band; slightly shorter than my old 2" casters had, but hold just fine. Finding this exact caster available locally turned out to be impossible, and I had to get thru a distributor in Dallas who got them shipped out with one of their regular re-supply shipments. I did find a very similar caster on ebay for a lower overall cost, and the only difference is the stem is 1/16" longer and in lieu of a brass band it has a smaller wire type grip ring. If you would like the ebay vendors name and product info, PM me.

Since I didn't want to relocate caster assemblies higher on the legs to compensate for larger 3" diameter casters, and wanted that extra inch of height when casters are engaged for rolling clearance, I will use a block of wood under legs on each end to rest weight on while machine is in use. Blocks are shown in progress stage ... control sheave button bearing failure stopped my work on these yesterday. Plan to add small blocks at each end to form L-shaped 90 degree "stops" to ensure blocks of wood are fully under legs.

When I put new casters on my old 1970's machine, the pedal hit ever so slightly and failed to work properly even though I re-drilled the legs per instructions. Next, I added a couple washers between the caster swivel and the raising mechanism which improved but did not fix issue. I talked to Shopsmith and they mentioned that the old pedals were a bit longer than the newer ones. Quick work with a hand grinder and removal of the washers fixed the issues and all works just fine now. Love the new larger casters!

marcs4095 wrote:When I put new casters on my old 1970's machine, the pedal hit ever so slightly and failed to work properly even though I re-drilled the legs per instructions. Next, I added a couple washers between the caster swivel and the raising mechanism which improved but did not fix issue. I talked to Shopsmith and they mentioned that the old pedals were a bit longer than the newer ones. Quick work with a hand grinder and removal of the washers fixed the issues and all works just fine now. Love the new larger casters!

I question that! Location different - yes, longer - I do not think so.

FINISHED (for now). With control sheave button bearing replaced, was able to complete wood blocks on which Shopsmith will rest when weight taken off of casters. With new casters, now moves much easier, even on not-quite-as-smooth driveway. And with extra inch of clearance by NOT relocating brackets, plenty of clearance going down or coming up 1-1/2" ramp. Both blocks work fine on garage floor slab, and will fine tune thickness of wood blocks as I use them a little more outside on driveway and learn just how out of uniform slope my driveway is ... right now one fits fine, but the other is a little tight in my usual spot on driveway.