jet 1642 and casters

[Dennis Taylor]

I have a small shop/garage, and have a Jet 1642, and need to be able to move around the shop, I seen casters at Woodcraft that have a 3/8" stem with locking rolling and swievels, I do not do a lot of large,heavy turning, would these work on my situations. WC sales person swears by them, but not sure if they are up and up all the time. .... anyone knows about this please reply and thanks....dennis

 

[Joe Greiner]

3/8" stem seems wimpy for such a heavy lathe. I'd go with plate casters instead, for stronger connections.

 

[Don O. Jr.]

Dennis-if I remember correctly, the legs on my Jet 1642 came threaded for 3/8-16 adjustable leveling feet. I took out the wimpy OEM feet and replaced them with much heavier neoprene machine feet. I personally think you will be OK with good casters to move your lathe. I have seen heavier lathes on wheels with no problems. It might be to your advantage to have a way to raise and lower your lathe or the casters so it doesn't have to sit on the wheels all the time and form flat spots and for stability. Search for the Mustard Monster (PM 3520b) site for some more ideas.

 

[rjones]

The other reason to take the weight off the casters is stability. IMO does not mater were you are turning tooth picks or bowls the lathe needs to be stable, the casters will cause problems in your projects.because the lathe is setting on 4 roller balls, even if they are locked.

 

[Vaughn]

I have these casters on my 3520B. Resting on the rubber pads, the lathe is more stable than the nylon footpads that came with it. When the wheels are lowered, I can move my lathe one-handed.

 

[KurtB]

Jet 1642 with Casters

We used the Woodcraft casters, (they look very much like the Zambus), to make our club lathe mobile. We didn't want to bolt them to the bottom of the legs because it would add about 3" to the height of the lathe. Instead, we came up with a mobile base configuration that added only 1". You could modify this to work out to whatever height you liked best. The added advantage is that there is enough travel with the casters to let you level the lathe in it's new location. This setup rolls very nicely on hard floors, pretty well on carpet, and doesn't move very much even if the casters are not locked down.

 

[Scott Read]

1642 w/ castors

I put the lockable Woodcraft castors on my 1642. They are rated at 300# per wheel and screw into the existing threaded hole. They only run about $17 a piece. The largest piece I have turned is around 15" and they were fine. More importantly, the unit moves very easily when you need it to.

 

[Dan Mosley]

I also put the Woodcraft lockable wheels on my 1642 for the same reasons as you to move it in and out of my garage due to limited space.
They work fine and I can move my lathe around with one hand and it is very easy to maneuver.
That said - The wheels the others have mentioned from Rambus etc are higher quality wheels and im sure work very well or better but I have no regrets on the WC wheels and ive been using them for more than 8 months. Actually I got another set for a large mobile work bench so I can move it in and out of my garage and it works with the same ease........Dan

 

[Jim Keenan]

I posted this quite a few years ago. Another method. Go to page three.

http://www.aawforum.org/vbforum/showthread.php?t=3394&highlight=captjim&page=3

 

[jongibbs]

Just to sound a note of caution - I also have a Jet 1642 and from my experience I'd have to question the idea of castors without adding a rigid sub-base to maintain the alignment of the legs.

I can see that for a 3520b, which has a much more substantial bed casting, it's probably ok just to stick the castors on the bottom of the legs, but I have had problems in the past with the bed on my 1642 twisting slightly and it failing the "kiss-test" when the legs are out of true - Something which could easily happen with castors on an even slightly out of level floor. DAMHIKT but even 1/16th inch low on one leg is enough to twist the bed enough for the head and tailstock to be out of alignment anywhere along the bed.

Jon

 

[Larry Cronkite]

I bought my 1642 from Woodcraft. It was a floor model so I got a good price on it and it had the Woodcraft casters which made it even more appealing.
I added a ballast box with about 300 lbs of sand and it's so steady I don't even need to lock the casters when I'm turning.

 

[Robert Clark]

Jet 1642 base

We used the Woodcraft casters, (they look very much like the Zambus), to make our club lathe mobile. We didn't want to bolt them to the bottom of the legs because it would add about 3" to the height of the lathe. Instead, we came up with a mobile base configuration that added only 1". You could modify this to work out to whatever height you liked best. The added advantage is that there is enough travel with the casters to let you level the lathe in it's new location. This setup rolls very nicely on hard floors, pretty well on carpet, and doesn't move very much even if the casters are not locked down.

Kurt,
Sorry to reach back to so old a post but We (Woodturner's of North Texas) are in the process of replacing our club 3520A with a 1642 and are looking for the best mobile answer. As we don't have a building that we can leave the lathe in between meeting, we store it and all the A/V stuff in a box trailer at a members house and unload/setup/load each month for the meeting and demo. The setup shown in the pics in your post looked like it might fit the bill and I had a few questions
1. Where did you got the bases for the legs
2, Have you had any problems clearing outside door thresholds(bottom clearance)
3. Is overall width an issue with a standard 36" door.
These was always issues with the 3520.

Thanks
Bob Clark
raandmtc@uwmail.com

 

[KurtB]

Bob, if I remember, the bases were 3"x3" brick lintel cut to 30" lengths. Then a 4" cut piece was used for the casters. The 1" clearance worked for us because we were going from concrete to industrial carpet, and only had a 3/4" transition strip to hurdle. The bases are bolted to the legs using the threaded holes in the legs. Be aware that you will have to lift each set of wheels over any threshholds because the 3" casters will not roll over them. If you have to, you can slide the headstock from one end to the other during moving to lighten the load for lifting. Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[JerrySambrook]

Craft Supplies is now selling a retractable caster base for the lathes.
Check it out.
http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/New_Products___Lift_Lock_N__Roll____lift_lock_roll?Args=

Jerry