Shopsmith Forums

Hi,

I purchased the upgrade casters about 5 years ago. Yesterday, I went in my shop and noticed red plastic pieces on the ground. I didn't know what they came from at first (thinking I must have broke something again) and just through them away.

The next day, I attempted to move my shopsmith to another area and the machine just about fell on me. I caught it and stood it back up.

I looked at the wheels and discovered where the red plastic came from!!

My shop floor is concrete with epoxy overlay. Shop is in Florida in a non air conditioned (all the time) insulated shop.

My question's...
Is there a "shelve life" on these type wheels?
I would like to change the wheel type to something else...can the wheels be removed from the axle?

Thank you,

Greg

The product catalog says these are polyolefin wheels, and that refers to a lot of different plastics. It might be polypropylene or something similar which can be brittle enough to disintegrate like that. You might have run over something small and sharp to start the process, or maybe you just got a bad wheel.

I don't know where they list a price for a replacement 3" caster but they must have them. There are probably 3rd party replacements, and you should be able to replace just the wheel if you want. I don't know how the wheels are mounted on the 3" version, if you wanted to replace just the wheel on a 2" caster you'd have to cut off the axle and replace it with a bolt.

First I would like to make sure we are talking about the same wheels. Below shows the Shopsmith Premium Upgrade Casters mounted.

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Is this the wheels you have?

I don't know of a "shelf life" for the casters. I have one set I put on my Mark about 5 years ago and no problems. I live in Oregon and my tools are in my insulated garage, concrete floor and no heat or air conditioning. Outside temperatures here goes from below freezing to the highest temp I have ever seen here at 116 degrees a few weeks ago. The garage temperature, including the concrete floor, goes up and down with the outside temperature since the garage door is opened at least twice a day. Temperature changes and other conditions could effect the life of the wheels.

The casters use a standard end to go into the retractable caster assembly. See picture below. There have been other wheels used. You could go back to 2" wheels and even find a set of older type metal wheels like those first used on the Mark 5. Of course it won't roll around as easy. That would require remounting the retractable caster set back to the original holes on the Mark's legs.

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Shopsmith replacement casters are found at the link below.

https://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/cat ... asters.htm

Standard 2" replacement casters are found at the link below.

https://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/cat ... caster.htm

I have those same wheels on two units and have had no problems.

To answer your specific question about replacing wheels: Yes. if you have the wheels shown here they can be replaced. Are these the wheels you have?

Sorry this happened to you. I haven't had mine that long, but so far mine are doing well. I have to ask when did you have your epoxy floor put in? Was it before/after you put these casters on? Just wondering if one of the chemicals involved in the epoxy floor might have come into contact with the casters. The Shopsmith casters are made of polyolefin so a solvent for it could be a concern. Of course, it could just be a manufacturing defect. Even though it has been 5 years, it still may be worth reaching out to Shopsmith to see if they had a bad batch in production and are willing to replace them for you. If not, I have been very happy with the polyurethane wheels from CasterCity for other projects. You would have to check the specs, but I believe the 3" stem casters from them may fit.

https://www.castercity.com/stemcaster-model-l3/

I agree with asking Shopsmith to do something about this. They are called premium casters for a reason and should be held to a higher standard than the standard ones. Shopsmith probably uses a vender for the casters and may have the ability to ask for a replacement.

The stem on the 3" wheel casters is 1-3/8" long while the stem on the 2" wheel casters is 1-5/8" long. A longer stem would not work well in the retractable caster assembly's sleeve since it would leave the excess stem below the bottom of the sleeve adding height to the assembly. The 3" casters "ride" on the base around the stem against the bottom of the sleeve while the original 2" casters "ride" on the top of the stem inside at the top of the sleeve.

I hope this makes sense for getting the correct measurements for a replacement caster.