On 13 Mar 2010 05:47:53 GMT, "DoN. Nichols"
wrote:

On 2010-03-10, Joseph Gwinn wrote:
In article ,
Ignoramus17831 wrote:

On 2010-03-10, Joseph Gwinn wrote:

[ ... ]

Why can't you use casters with cast iron wheels? These will *not* deform.

I can, and I have them in my mcmaster cart. But I already have the
colson casters.


Anyhow, I have these Colson 1500 lbs casters with dark red urethane
wheels, and I want to know if they would become unusable if I let the
mill sit on them for a week or two.

I would ask Colson, but I would be suspicious of anything non-metallic.


As am I. I also think that metal wheels would be easier to move with a
load this heavy.

The other problem with wheels (especially if made of cast iron) is that the mill
may move around in response to machining motions. I like the suggestions of
having a caster plus a retractable solid foot of some kind at each corner.

Amen!

Mills are not as sensitive to leveling as lathes, but adjustability is
nonetheless needed in at least one of the solid feet to handle floors that are
not perfectly flat, or the mill may rock back and forth as machining proceeds,
which would be really annoying.

There is one reason for leveling the mill. The flow of coolant
back to the reservoir can be quite sensitive to leveling.

Enjoy,
DoN.

Makes me wonder what life as a machinist was like on the big WWII
ships. I worked on one that was converted to a crab processing plant
in Dutch Harbor, AK. It had a complete machine shop and I was told
they could make damn near any part they'd need as long as they had the
stock. This ship was permanently docked but it'd still list depending
on how the loads were stowed down below. I have to assume it wouldn't
be level underway. Well, perhaps akin to a broken clock being right
twice a day anyway.

Newb