Small Spindle Steady wheels????

[Justturnin]

I want to build a small spindle steady. Most that I see use Rollerblade wheels but those are too big for the size I want to turn (3/4-1"). Have you made a small one? What wheels did you use?

Thanks for any help or leads.

 

[Haynie]

If you go to Home or Lowes and have a look at their replacement casters you might find something. I had to replace the wheels on my office chair a few weeks ago and there was a nice selection of smallish casters.

 

[wood-of-1kind]

Use of bearings instead? Just an idea.

 

[Andrew_K99]

Use of bearings instead? Just an idea.

The steady rest discussed in this thread uses bearings ... http://www.penturners.org/forum/f30/steady-rest-help-95423/

 

[NewLondon88]

if you're getting a good deal on the rollerblade wheels, pop out the
bearings. They're often Abec and should hold up well. You can hit them
with some sort of rubber coating if you need a protective surface. Even
a rubber band should help.

 

[lorbay]

I went to a hobby store and bought a set of wheels from a race car. They have bearings in them.

Lin.

 

[holmqer]

Consider a design that lets you offset the wheels for small spindles. I've seen folks use the roller blade wheels for very tiny spindles by mounting the one arm on opposite side of the from the other, and by flipping one arm so that one wheel is on the opposite side of the arm from the other wheels. This resulted in the three wheels being staggered one wheel width relative to each other. This lets you have the non-marring wheel on your spindle rather than a harder bearing.

 

[Justturnin]

Thanks Everyone. I ran by Lowes and picked up some nylon shower door rollers. I am taking some step by step pics so if it work i will post them.