Robust AB Wheel Kit?

[Dan Case LR]

A question for those who own American Beauties with Robust's wheel kits:

The current iteration of the robust website has nothing at all about these kits other than acknowledging their existence and pricing -- not even a picture. It's also mentioned briefly in the FAQ section, saying ypou shouldn't try to turn with the wheels in place. Duh. Can you guys share your experience with them, maybe a photo or two, and your degree of satisfaction with them?

Say I need to move an AB a few feet. How long does it take to get it up on the wheels and ready to roll?

Any worthwhile 3rd party solutions?

Thanks!

D.

[Reed Gray]

Well, if you are on the Brute Squad, you can push it along the floor without too much effort, well, unless you have a couple hundred pounds of sand bags on it. I have the mobility kits for both my AB and Liberty. There is a screw type jack with threads about 3 or 4 to the inch, and a nut with rebar wings. Crank it up, slip in the wheels (kind of awkward the first few times), lower it down, lift the other end, and it is really easy to push around. It does help to have 2 people, only because both sets of wheels swivel, and kind of hard for one person to steer both ends. I don't use it often, but it is really nice to have it when I need it.

robo hippy

[Jason Edwards]

Dan, if you go to the Robust page about the AB, there is a tab that says "build yours" and there are a couple of pictures and verbiage there about the wheel kits. I have them for my Sweet 16 and they work well. Nice and big, 5" diameter casters.

[Bob Bergstrom]

I have a hydraulic table and a wooden cradle with a "V" shape cut into it that conforms to the diamond shape on the bottom of the ways. Slip in under the lathe pump the hydraulic lever and move it about. The table is parked under the lathe when not in use. I've used the table to lift heavy blanks up ont the lathe, and as a adjustable height work table for cabinet work. Harbor Feight has a 1,000 pound lift capacity.

[Jeffrey J Smith]

Dan: I've been moving recently, just had to put all my equipment into storage until the new shop is built - including my AB. I didn't get the wheel set when I bought it, but was lucky enough to have a club member that had the kit and we willing to loan it to me.
I've moved mine short distances using the brute approach, but couldn't conceive of how to get up a ramp and into the truck without the wheel kit.
The movers were impressed - it still took four guys to get it up the ramp, but there's no way it would have happened without the kit.
The large diameter wheels make moving easy. It only took a couple of minutes to get them installed.
Well worth it if you plan to move it often. I'm putting a kit on my list, along with the 16" bed extension for when the shop is finished..
Just have to figure out what to do for the 6 months it's going take to get the whole thing done.

[Dan Case LR]

Dan, if you go to the Robust page about the AB, there is a tab that says "build yours" and there are a couple of pictures and verbiage there about the wheel kits. I have them for my Sweet 16 and they work well. Nice and big, 5" diameter casters.


I hate it when they hide things right under my nose. Thanks, Jason.

D.

[Dan Case LR]

Thanks, All for your comments and good information.I have no doubt that the wheel kit is well-made and while not cheap it's only a drop or two when looking at the overall cost of the American Beauty. It does sound like a lot of fussing around compared to some other mobility kits. My turning club owns a PM3520B with a "loft, lock, and roll" wheel kit. Without it, we couldn't use the lathe, since it needs to be rolled into storage between meetings (we meet a a borrowed hall). It's too bad there isn't something like that to fit the AB.

All that said, I'd still want an American Beauty even if I had to work out my own mobility add-on. I spent a week turning on one last year and, well, you who have them know. Nothing else comes close. I'm tempted by some other less-expensive options, but I'm saving for an American Beauty!

Thanks, all.

D.

[Jeffrey J Smith]

Dan: it does seem to be a little fussy - having to jack up each end separately and putting the wheels on one at a time, but the operation goes really quick. Brent has designed the jack with an aggressive screw thread such that it takes only a couple of easy turns to reach the right height. There's a slot for the jack head. The wheels pop into holes in the right position, then the jack comes down with a couple of turns. All four go on really fast. I haven't timed it, but I'd be surprised if the entire operation took more than 3 or 4 minutes after you've done it once.

[Curtis Myers]

I saved a little money and did not get the mobility option.
In stead I purchased a dolly system (1500 lbs capacity) from Harbor freight for $49.00 and use my existing car floor jack.
Use floor jack to lift one end to slip Dolly's under lathe legs. Floor jack has wheels so I use it on the other end. I do not plan to move lathe much and this less expensive option works. As a bonus I use the Dolly's for some other heavy shop items.

[Joe Bradshaw]

Dan, while it is not an AB, my girlfriend insisted that she had to have castor on her Liberty in case she wanted to move it for cleaning. To date; the lathe has not been moved. It's worked out well on the castors. They probably have flat spots on the wheels now.
Joe

[Bill Boehme]

I have the AB and wheels. After about a year I replaced the screw jack with a hydraulic trolly jack from HF. At the time, the trolly jack was about $27. I took the hook part from the screw jack and mounted it on the trolly jack as shown in the picture below.

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The hook part swivels freely so that I can position the jack however it is most convenient. Using the jack, I can install or remove the wheels in a matter of seconds ... faster than an Indy pit crew changing tires. Well, maybe not that fast, but fast, nevertheless.

Here is a shot of the wheels and the jack in place on the tailstock end of the lathe.

319181

The wheels are heavy duty enough to hold up to regular use. I turned balanced pieces under 5 pounds with the wheels on the lathe with no problem. For spindles, I sort of like the extra height the wheels give. I wouldn't do it with heavy or out of balance pieces. And, finally, a closeup of one of the wheels.

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[Bill Boehme]

BTW, the wheels can be installed and removed with just one hand in about five seconds each. The lever at the top is the latch mechanism. It is quicker to remove the wheels as you just grab the lever and jerk ... that's it. To install, you pull the lever up, slip a tang on the wheel assembly into the leg then make sure that the bottom of the assembly is in position and release the lever. Finally, you feel with a finger to make sure that the latch plunger went through the hole in the foot of the lathe.

[Dan Case LR]

Nice idea, Bill. Harbor Freight should feel elevated to work with an AB. :)

D.

[Dan Hintz]

I didn't recognize it at the time, but one of the wheels had a bent shaft pin, so it didn't sit in the locking hole properly... leading to the shaft pin getting more and more bent out of shape as time when on (and those are some thick pins). After my move late last year, I noticed a second shaft pin was bent and wouldn't slide into the locking hole. I'm torn between trying to remove the cotter pins/springs and straighten out the shaft pin or just buying a new set. I know which is more costly, but still deciding on which is more cost-effective.

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of the overall design of the mobility kit. With a reversal of locking tabs, the wheels could be made to sit directly under the leg instead of off to the side, removing the need for such a hefty shaft pin

[Dan Case LR]

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of the overall design of the mobility kit. With a reversal of locking tabs, the wheels could be made to sit directly under the leg instead of off to the side, removing the need for such a hefty shaft pin

Though there are many different design philosophies, I tend to agree. Personally, I'm not big on the whole removable wheel thing. My favorite design concept for lathe mobility is:

https://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/p/193/4697/Lift-Lock-and-Roll-Lathe-Mobility-System

My club has this on our PM 3520B, and rolling it into storage after meetings is as simple as it gets. When in the wheels-up mode, the lathe stands on its own feet. In fact, I think it can be installed without lifting the lathe.

D.

[Josh Bowman]

I hated the price tag, and thankfully before I became President of our chapter, they had already been bought, but I will admit these really work well and are easy to get the lathe up on the wheels. They do take up more floor space when on the wheels.

Though there are many different design philosophies, I tend to agree. Personally, I'm not big on the whole removable wheel thing. My favorite design concept for lathe mobility is:

https://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/p/193/4697/Lift-Lock-and-Roll-Lathe-Mobility-System

My club has this on our PM 3520B, and rolling it into storage after meetings is as simple as it gets. When in the wheels-up mode, the lathe stands on its own feet. In fact, I think it can be installed without lifting the lathe.

D.

[Jason Edwards]

[QUOTE=Dan Hintz;2453027]I didn't recognize it at the time, but one of the wheels had a bent shaft pin,

Dan: Robust warrants all their parts for 7 years so why not contact them for replacement pieces. Probably do the whole job in just a few minutes and get it all for free.

[Bill Boehme]

I didn't recognize it at the time, but one of the wheels had a bent shaft pin, so it didn't sit in the locking hole properly... leading to the shaft pin getting more and more bent out of shape as time when on (and those are some thick pins). After my move late last year, I noticed a second shaft pin was bent and wouldn't slide into the locking hole. I'm torn between trying to remove the cotter pins/springs and straighten out the shaft pin or just buying a new set. I know which is more costly, but still deciding on which is more cost-effective.

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of the overall design of the mobility kit. With a reversal of locking tabs, the wheels could be made to sit directly under the leg instead of off to the side, removing the need for such a hefty shaft pin

I have had the wheel set on my lathe for years and can't imagine what could make the pins bend since they are very heavy duty. Maybe yours weren't properly heat treated. My lathe sits on the wheels full time when the lathe is not being used. I roll my lathe from the garage out to the driveway apron (about 12 feet) whenever I do any turning. I have painted position marks on the driveway that I always sit the lathe so that it will always sit with all fours resting evenly and level. Putting the wheels under the feet is a bad idea because it would mean that the lathe would need to be raised several inches higher. Because the lathe has legs that allow height adjustment, this means that some of the solutions used on fixed height lathes aren't applicable to this configuration.

Anyway I am perfectly satisfied with the wheel performance and haven't run across any ideas that are better yet.

[Dan Hintz]

Dan: Robust warrants all their parts for 7 years so why not contact them for replacement pieces. Probably do the whole job in just a few minutes and get it all for free.
I've considered asking how much it would cost to just get a couple of shaft pins, but it hasn't been a priority. Maybe some day...


I have had the wheel set on my lathe for years and can't imagine what could make the pins bend since they are very heavy duty. Maybe yours weren't properly heat treated.

My guess is the shaft pin wasn't fully seated on one of the wheels when it was moved around... the second was probably the same problem while it was being moved into the basement at the new house.