Hello,

I've seen these casters that simply a rubber ball in a steel
housing with a plate for attaching. There are probably some
ball bearings fit in that housing somehow as well.
I've googled and otherwise searched the web to no avail.
I've called a few contractor hardware places in the area and
while they know what I'm talking about no one has a clue
where to get them.

I'm not talking about the stem type ball caster you see used
on chairs. This is a plate caster, plate 4-6" square with
the ball centered w/respect to the plate and held in place
w/enough of a steel sphere to keep it there. The idea is a
very very smooth swivel.

Anyone have a source for these casters?

Anyone have any experience with them, i.e. do they suck?
I'm thinking they'd be a lot easier to find if they were
popular.

thanks for the help
ml

wrote in message news:McqdncuFT8L3cFLfRVn-

I've seen these casters that simply a rubber ball in a steel
housing with a plate for attaching. There are probably some
ball bearings fit in that housing somehow as well.

They're called hood casters.
http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/pa...36&cat=3,51976

On 9-Jul-2005, "Upscale" wrote:

wrote in message
news:McqdncuFT8L3cFLfRVn-

I've seen these casters that simply a rubber ball in a
steel
housing with a plate for attaching. There are probably
some
ball bearings fit in that housing somehow as well.

They're called hood casters.
http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/pa...36&cat=3,51976

actually those are the ones that I don't want. What I'm
referring to is pretty much a symmetrical unit and there's
no axle to the wheel. It just sits in the housing and
rotates however it needs to.

thanks for the info though
ml

wrote in message

actually those are the ones that I don't want. What I'm
referring to is pretty much a symmetrical unit and there's
no axle to the wheel. It just sits in the housing and
rotates however it needs to.

Only think I can think of is a roller ball with a steel ball, not rubber.
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...at=1,240,41060

On 9-Jul-2005, "Upscale" wrote:

Only think I can think of is a roller ball with a steel
ball, not rubber.
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...at=1,240,41060

Yah, I've seen those. I could make those work if the wheels
were rubber. It has to travel across textured ceramic tile
so steel is out.

again thanks for the effort
ml

wrote in message

Yah, I've seen those. I could make those work if the wheels
were rubber. It has to travel across textured ceramic tile
so steel is out.

I'm pretty sure you're not going to find very much. Even the hooded casters
had an axel through the ball. Roller balls as in the last url I gave you
only work because the encased steel ball is able to withstand the pressures
and friction. A rubber encased ball wouldn't stand up to that kind of abuse
for very long, at least not being used as a caster holding whatever weight
was put on them. I have seen entirely plastic units, but only for something
light as in a roller balls on something like a grocery outfeed table.

wrote:
On 9-Jul-2005, "Upscale" wrote:

Only think I can think of is a roller ball with a steel
ball, not rubber.
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...at=1,240,41060

Yah, I've seen those. I could make those work if the wheels
were rubber. It has to travel across textured ceramic tile
so steel is out.

I've looked for soft casters for tile too. Only ones I found are the
hooded rubber ones and a two wheel furniture caster (stem or plate) that
has relatively hard urethane as wheels rather than plastic. Haven't
tried the latter. Home Depot usually has both kinds.

The hooded rubber ones work well but are held together simply by the
stem being punched over the plate; because of the offset nature, there
is a lot of pressure/torque on that connection and if the load is heavy
(normal man in a chair with four casters) it will fail at which time you
have ball bearings all over anywhere.

--
dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

On Sat, 9 Jul 2005 16:51:37 GMT, the opaque
clearly wrote:


On 9-Jul-2005, "Upscale" wrote:

Only think I can think of is a roller ball with a steel
ball, not rubber.
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...at=1,240,41060

Yah, I've seen those. I could make those work if the wheels
were rubber. It has to travel across textured ceramic tile
so steel is out.

I got some of these to make a mobile kitchen cart...some day.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=9589


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"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 9 Jul 2005 16:51:37 GMT, the opaque
clearly wrote:


On 9-Jul-2005, "Upscale" wrote:

Only think I can think of is a roller ball with a steel
ball, not rubber.
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...at=1,240,41060

Yah, I've seen those. I could make those work if the wheels
were rubber. It has to travel across textured ceramic tile
so steel is out.

I got some of these to make a mobile kitchen cart...some day.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=9589


Uhhh......, Larry, just how big and heavy is this kitchen cart going to
be?

Assuming that you just use four casters, these casters would be capable of
holding 616 lbs.

You could move a side of beef around on that thing!

You might look at these. It would help if we knew what you are
moving and what kind of cart/chair/tool on the ceramic tile.
http://www.sphericalwheel.com/

I have always used Shepherd brand ball casters on "nice" stuff and
would not hesitate to recommend.
http://www.shepherdhardware.com/Page...softtread.html

(top posted for your convenience)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Keep the whole world singing . . . .
DanG (remove the sevens)




wrote in message
...
Hello,

I've seen these casters that simply a rubber ball in a steel
housing with a plate for attaching. There are probably some
ball bearings fit in that housing somehow as well.
I've googled and otherwise searched the web to no avail.
I've called a few contractor hardware places in the area and
while they know what I'm talking about no one has a clue
where to get them.

I'm not talking about the stem type ball caster you see used
on chairs. This is a plate caster, plate 4-6" square with
the ball centered w/respect to the plate and held in place
w/enough of a steel sphere to keep it there. The idea is a
very very smooth swivel.

Anyone have a source for these casters?

Anyone have any experience with them, i.e. do they suck?
I'm thinking they'd be a lot easier to find if they were
popular.

thanks for the help
ml

On Sat, 9 Jul 2005 14:54:39 -0400, the opaque "Lee Michaels"
clearly wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
I got some of these to make a mobile kitchen cart...some day.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=9589

Uhhh......, Larry, just how big and heavy is this kitchen cart going to
be?

Small, but capable of leaping over entire -carrots- in a single bound.



Assuming that you just use four casters, these casters would be capable of
holding 616 lbs.

Probably 24x30x30" and 100# at the most.


You could move a side of beef around on that thing!

Right. the bigger the wheel, the easier it is to move and the less
there is which will stop it. I use all 5-inchers in the shop.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=38708
and
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=38711

You can roll 400# over the air hose without much trouble at all.


-
Press HERE to arm. (Release to detonate.)
-----------
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On 9-Jul-2005, "DanG" wrote:

You might look at these. It would help if we knew what
you are
moving and what kind of cart/chair/tool on the ceramic
tile.
http://www.sphericalwheel.com/

It's a mobile kitchen island/cutting station, 18x24x36
w/maple countertop.
Total weight is somewhere around 60 lbs. Though I suppose a
20 lb turkey might find its way on there sometime...

I've got some standard casters on there now. They work, but
not great.

The spherical wheels are sort of the thing I'm looking for
but not as fancy.
I've seen these things before though they could of easily
been custom made for the product I saw em on. Was a while
ago.

anyway thanks for the links
ml