balancing wheels?

Question

Hi,

I've decided to go ahead and use castor wheels on my grinder. They'll spin around 1700 rpm. I'm told that they might be noisy as they won't be adquately balanced. So long as I get a smooth wheel (no spokes), does balancing consist merely of evening the surface? If not, how do you balance wheels?

Or more urgently, just tell me asap, is it feasible to balance a castor wheel?

If so, I'll order it now, and then learn how in the days/week or two before it arrives (multi-tasking! :-) ).

Alternatively, it seems that pulleys ARE balanced, so I can look for a flat-belt pulley large enough? But the castors are convenient for several reasons, if they aren't too hard to balance.

thanks! -Bernard Arnest

Steve Smith · Accepted Answer

Note that many caster wheels that are described as 2" wide are actually

1 5/8 to 1 3/4. They seem to be 2" wide at the hub and taper a little. I ended up buying a contact wheel on ebay.

The other potential issue is whether the bearings will hold up at speed.

Are you interested in my not wide enough casters?

Steve

Bernard Arnest wrote:

RoyJ · Answer

What are you using for bearings?  The only thing I've seen that will hold up are some standard fully enclosed ball bearings.Bernard Arnest wrote:

Bernard Arnest · Answer

I was going to get needle roller bearings, and then I saw that thelarger casters already came with them.

Bernard Arnest · Answer

it appears when buying bearings alone that the speed is no problem,according to the specs.  Now, whether the needle roller bearings thatcome with the wheel (3/4" ID, I asked technical support) are of thesame standards, perhaps you could advise me there.

Leo Lichtman · Answer

"Bernard Arnest" wrote:  (clip) Or more urgently, just tell me asap, is it feasible to balance a castor wheel? (clip)^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^I once had to balance a fan that vibrated a lot--but the out-of-balance weight was too small to overcome the bearing friction when the fan was stopped.  I held a vibrating engraver against the fan, and the thing slowly rotated 'til the weight was on the bottom.  A little work with a Dremel tool, and the thing was fixed.

balancing wheels?

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