Powermatic on casters

[Clancy Courtney]

Has anyone mounted their 3520 on casters? Have any pictures you can share?
Thanks for any tips.
Clancy

[Jonathon Spafford]

For some reason I don't like the sound of a big lathe like that on casters, especially if you are planning on turning big stuff. It might be alright, but for some reason it sounds like you might get more exercise than you'd want chasing that thing around the shop.

[Dario Octaviano]

Unless the caster is totally retractable, I will advise against it too.

I think even lockable casters (w/ brake) won't work (for the reasons stated above). Just my thoughts.

[Mike Vickery]

I will agree with above and give a little story. I bought my lathe which is roughly the same size as the PM 3520 used from a guy and it was mounted on casters. I left it on the casters for a couple weeks for two reason. One I wanted to try the lathe in a couple spots in my shop before I decided where it's permenant home was. Two I am 6 foot 4 and wanted to try it at the heigth it was at to see how much I wanted to raise my lathe up.
I did not turn any really big stuff but the lathe was more stable that I would have thought. However even though I did not notice much vibration I had to tighten a couple of set screws and the nut on my variable speed control several times. Once I put it in its permenant home I shimmed it up and weighted it down and have never had to tighten anything again.

On top of vibration if you are not on the tall side the casters may put your spindle height higher than you would like.

[Bill Boehme]

Rather than casters, I woud recommend heavy duty wheels. Our club has welded hook type brackets on the headstock end legs and a bracket for an aircraft type towbar on the tailstock end. If you have seen the arrangement for moving the Minimax bandsaws. it is a lot like that except for much bigger wheels. With this configuration, the wheels and tow bar are only attached when the lathe is moved. It only takes a few seconds to install the wheels.

Bill

[Brian Weick]

Not on a lathe-the onset of an out of balance piece of material will cause that lathe to move in ways that will have a negative outcome -no matter how you look at it- not a wise idea - way to dangerous- is there some reason you want it movable?
Happy turnings
Brian,:eek:

[Hilel Salomon]

I'm a nut about mobility and almost everything in my shop here and in VA is on mobile stands. While I've got several different kinds, I prefer the type that Delta makes for its heavier equipment. Those sit on the ground and you push down w/your feet to make them mobile.
I made my Nova XP (in VA) to sit on a self made stand which is on a Delta mobile made for jointers, but my powermatic(in SC) is not. For what it costs to get a very heavy duty mobile stand, you might look into getting either a hydraulic dolly or hydraulic table. When I absolutely need to move my powermatic lathe, that's what I use. The advantage of having one of those is that the next time you bring back an enormous block of wood to turn, you can use it/them to bring it to your lathe. I also found them invaluable in setting up heavy equipment like my lathes.
PS I got my table at HF and my dolly at an industrial supply house.

[JerHall]

There are some discussions and pictures on the AAW Tips Forum, under 3520 Tips. Look at the heading "Moving and Delivery" One of the solutions has a system for lifting the casters off the wheels once it is in place.

[Chris Barton]

My PM3520a is on wheels and I have had no problem. Moving it is a bit like pushing a car though...

[JerHall]

Bill Boehme said: "...........Our club has welded hook type brackets on the headstock end legs and a bracket for an aircraft type towbar on the tailstock end. If you have seen the arrangement for moving the Minimax bandsaws. it is a lot like that except for much bigger wheels."

Hey Bill, I like this idea. Any chance of a picture or two?

[Rich Souchek]

Clancy,
Somewhere, recently, this was written about.
The best idea was to use a leveling caster with wheel, such as these guys make: http://www.mjvail.com/carrymaster.htm

Here is another one on woodcentral

Been searching for about 15 minutes and have not found the post yet, but this should get you thinking....
Rich s.

[Mark Pruitt]

My turning club has a Jet 1642 on casters. The first time I saw someone use it I figured the thing would move, but to my surprise the weight of the machine seems to stabilize it even w/o locking the casters. Having said that, I'm not about to put my 3520B on casters. Even if I've seen someone do it and have good results, I still have an uneasy feeling about it.

[Doug Shepard]

I have to wonder if those Zambus casters might not work well for that. I'm thinking about putting a set under my MM16. A lot of folks on the MM users group swear by them for use under really heavy machines and say that they're rock solid.

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Has anyone mounted their 3520 on casters? Have any pictures you can share?
Thanks for any tips.
Clancy3520? What's a 3520? is that one of those....:eek: :D

[Patrick Irish]

I need casters for a PM 160 planer (1,100lbs) so I can roll it up my driveway and in my garage. Thos Zambus look great but but small in diameter, might struggle going over cracks and lips where driveway and garage meet.

[Mike Goetzke]

Mine needs to be on load leveling casters - you can see it here:


http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?220315-New-Location-for-my-Lathe&highlight=casters

[Robert Marshall]

Quite right that you don't want to turn while up on casters. I forgot to lower my lathe back to its feet after moving it one time, and had a big, out-of-balance blank on the face plate. The lathe did a dance when I started it up!

But I do enjoy turning outside on a nice day (concrete patio adjoins the shop, at same level). Pleasant, plus makes cleanup a breeze, using a lawn blower.

My mobility modifications consist of a 4x4 with casters on the bottom, hinged to a plate mounted at the bottom of the legs. A two-foot steel lever inserted into a hole in the front of the 4x4 serves to push the hinged 4x4 down, lifting the lathe up onto its casters, and the 4x4 locks into place with a pivoting metal bar that catches a screw on the side of the mounting plate. The 4x4 and the mounting plate are the width of the lathe legs, which is about 20" (Grizzly G0766). Lathe sits on its regular feet, when not lifted onto the rollers. Casters are swiveling at one end, fixed on the other, so you steer it at the swiveling end.

Picture below shows a side view of one end of the lathe; same on both ends. From left to right: 4x4, pivot screw, locking bar, hinge at top, mounting plate, locking screw. Not visible in this photo is another plate inside the web of the legs, to which the mounting plate is bolted (through the leg opening). I didn't want to put any screws through the legs, so I used a 'sandwich' of two plates. Below all that you can see one of the casters below the 4x4, and one of the lathe feet below the green cast iron leg.

358479

[John C Bush]

I have leveling casters on my 21"BS, 12" jointer, 20" planer, and 4224 PM lathe--all pretty heavy stuff. They work great and allow easy moving--floor is flat and smooth--and with the machines weight I don't need to spin down the foot often. I am 5'10"--well used to be--and the lathe was too high for me with the casters bolted on the legs, just like the pic above, so I used 3" X 1/4" angle iron to span the legs front to back and welded brackets to bolt the casters to and lowered the lathe ~~2 1/2"s. much better height for me. Arms were very appreciative. I do engage the feet with large blanks but when balanced there is very little movement. I got Great Lakes casters--330# variety IIRC. I have the dial type and they can be a PITA to raise and lower--have to get on knees sometimes(to be honest I can never remember which rotation is up or down) --so if buying now I would step up to the ratcheting type. Not sure how they work but likely you don't have to get in the barking dog pose to adjust. Good luck.

[Keith Buxton]

try looking at this https://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/p/110/4697/Lift-Lock-and-Roll-Lathe-Mobility-System I have it on my grizzly G0766 and works great. you can move it around very easily only thing is you will need to level the lathe every time you move it. to make sure the head and tail stock line up. yes cast iron will flex just a little.

[Robert Hayward]

try looking at this https://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/p/110/4697/Lift-Lock-and-Roll-Lathe-Mobility-System I have it on my grizzly G0766 and works great. you can move it around very easily only thing is you will need to level the lathe every time you move it. to make sure the head and tail stock line up. yes cast iron will flex just a little.

That is what I have on my 3520b, except mine is home made. Mine is more heavy duty, but was not worth the effort it took to design and build. Works like a dream though. Step on the lever on each end and the lathe can be moved with very little effort on a smooth clean floor.

[Michael Schneider]

Post #2 on this tread was a really nice approach to mobility on a lathe. If you build a box under your powermatic this may work

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?102818-Vicmarc-VL300-bare-bones-build-up-gonna-need-some-help/page6&p=1032662&highlight=vicmarc+300

[Brian Deakin]

A possible solution may be

http://www.mjvail.com/carrymaster.htm

https://www.amazon.com/Footmaster-Gd-60f-Leveling-Caster-Each/dp/B000LA0G80


Carrymaster or Footmaster casters

regards Brian

[Josh Bowman]

Clancy, here are the casters I have on my PM 3520b. I really don't use them, if I ever move it, I use my engine lift. Fiddling with the threaded part to engage the casters is more effort than I want to spend. If you want them, I take them off and sell them to you. :D
Now our club has these from Crafts Supply (https://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/p/110/4697/Lift-Lock-and-Roll-Lathe-Mobility-System), frankly, if I HAD to have casters, this is the way to go. They engage easy and the lathe rolls safely and easily with only 1 person. Don't use the trailer tongue jack method, another club uses it and it looks dangerous. It takes 2 to 3 people to keep the lathe from falling over.

[Wayne Kuhn]

358544
Not my design but works great