4" Heavy Casters with solid tyres.....

[GRW]

On my (must be pretty old) new to me steel table, are 4 hefty casters.

All are showing evidence of a long life in a workshop, with bits of metal stuck in the solid tyres, plus a bit raggedy looking.

One though, has a chunk missing (see pics). Wheel is 4" without the tyre (no way to he sure of the original tyre thickness exactly, but about a quarter-inch thick (making the outer radius 4.5").
Casters are nice, solid jobs, with nice bearings by the feel of them (not removed a wheel off the axle yet).

Questions. Can I a) get replacement solid tyres to fit these Casters, or is there b) a suggested material/method to add a piece or build-up with glue/araldite/whatever to fill in the missing section... or c) is it a case of trying to find new Casters to fit in place of these otherwise nice, beefy originals?

TIA,
G.

 

[frank horton]

u prob wont get new tyres......it's a thing of the past......
I had some really exc casters with junk tyres.....
I bought some white Nylon and machined them up to fit orig bearings....
not as quiet as rubber....still going strong......but Hey Ho......

 

[eddie49]

Press On Tyres | UK's largest stockist | Technica Wheels

We offer a large range of high quality press on tyres with a choice of tread materials including Vulkollan, polyurethane, wet grip, rubber & non-marking rubber. Next Day Delivery direct from our warehouse

www.technicawheels.co.uk

 

[Sergei Slovenija]

Take a hard rubber tape, roughen it with an abrasive, spread with 2K Tip-Top rabber glue or similar. Wrap several times, fix, let the glue polymerize. Sharpen to diameter. I used a belt cut from an old tire, keeping the tread

 

[GRW]

I've done some measuring & Googling, and came across Ross Handling.
My castors are 125mm and branded "Flexello" which still exist!

However, none of the wheels on my Table are braked, so decided to go for 2 new 125mm bolt-thru braked rubber wheel 4000 Series jobs and replace 2 (front) of the 4, with their tubular compression adaptors to secure.

The 4 legs have threaded inserts with 1" / 25mm centres, so all legs are height adjustable individually, plus the table has a few degrees of tilt as well - so I shouldt gave any bother making it run flat and proper.

Bought from here in case it's of interest to anyone:

Castors - UK's No. 1 Castor Supplier | Ross Handling Castors, Trolley Wheels & Castors Online from Ross Handling

Next Day delivery with our extensive range of Castors to suit all needs. We have built up over 40 years of experience in the castors and wheels industry.

www.rosscastors.co.uk

 

[daedalusminos]

Probably wouldn't take too much to 3D print some with flex filament.

 

[GRW]

Probably wouldn't take too much to 3D print some with flex filament.

I'll take your word for it
This 3D Printing malarkey is incredible, but beyond my limited understanding - I've never seen any done, let alone have any idea how to do it.

 

[Screwdriver]

I would be wary of "creep" with 3d printed filament. It's never just a regular plastic but modified to allow it to be printed. Typically glycol (?) which I think also changes its mechanical properties. I suspect a 3d printed solid tyre with sufficient weight on it would eventually go flat!

 

[Screwdriver]

You're probably better off casting your own tyres in urethane. Plenty of ways to do it but I'd be tempted to mould it right onto the wheel.

 

[Sergei Slovenija]

You're probably better off casting your own tyres in urethane. Plenty of ways to do it but I'd be tempted to mould it right onto the wheel.

It's not as easy as it seems from the outside. I have decades of experience in the business and thousands of tons of hot cured polyurethane applied to steel reinforcement.

 

[Sputter]

Casters are not that expensive. If the bearings are still good you could buy a non-swivel(they are usually the cheapest!) caster of the same diameter and swap the entire wheel over.
Another good online castor supplier is Bulldog castors

 

[bourbon]

Machine Mart sell casters.

 

[Anguz]

How goods your floor? stick them in a lathe, and make them round and just metal

 

[GRW]

How goods your floor? stick them in a lathe, and make them round and just metal

Nowhere near good enough I'm afraid!
There's also the small matter of not having a Lathe, nor any idea how to use one if I had one!
(Actually the metal wheels have a slightly concave profile visible where the tyre section us missing - so I could just cut all the rubber off... if I had a nice floated floor )

 

[Screwdriver]

It's not as easy as it seems from the outside. I have decades of experience in the business and thousands of tons of hot cured polyurethane applied to steel reinforcement.

Not suggesting it is "easy' but it can be done...

Another option might be to find a strip of urethane and glue it, weld it into a circle or just mould a tyre and glue it on..

Anyhoo, urethane would be my preferred material for diy and you might even find some suitable donor stock for machining (yeah, that's not easy either!).

 

[500e]

u prob wont get new tyres......it's a thing of the past......
I had some really exc casters with junk tyres.....
I bought some white Nylon and machined them up to fit orig bearings....
not as quiet as rubber....still going strong......but Hey Ho......

Are those wheels spot welded together after tyre is placed in the center

 

[Wedg1e]

Press On Tyres | UK's largest stockist | Technica Wheels

We offer a large range of high quality press on tyres with a choice of tread materials including Vulkollan, polyurethane, wet grip, rubber & non-marking rubber. Next Day Delivery direct from our warehouse

www.technicawheels.co.uk

I've used that supplier for jobs at work. They do a hell of a range, but often will only have literally one or two of any given style in stock and waits of months if you need more.
I might have some cast-iron wheels with rubbery (possibly Vulkollan) tyres on, about 5 or 6 inch... formerly used as drive wheels on a machine for inspecting 'pointy cylinders that go bang' in which application they need to be pretty precisely round, but for trolley wheels they should be good enough (although I now see that the OP has found some )

 

[Farside]

I'm looking around for all this sugar...

 

[Cobbler]

I'm looking around for all this sugar...

Would that be the icing on the cake?