OT plastic issues

Good luck with that. Pretty much *nothing* will stick to Teflon.

"Gary Owens" fired this volley in news:4a848aa8$0$5648$ snipped-for-privacy@unlimited.newshosting.com:

Gary, you don't, unless the teflon has been chemically treated to accept glue. You'd recognize it as such, since one side of the sheet would have a clearly "coated" look with a medium brown substance that appeared to have been painted on with a squeegee.

DelrIn is more resistant to abrasion than teflon, and still has a very slippery character -- it would probably be the better material for a high-abuse skid -- either that or UHMW polyethylene, which is not quite as tough, but WORLDS tougher that PTFE (Teflon).

Why not "re-design" the ski a bit, so you can rivet the plastic to the metal, like a brake pad or shoe is rivetted to its backing.

LLoyd

Looking at these walkers, and thinking that one day I will need one, I always wondered why they have no wheels, there must be a reason but it eludes me. Maybe some wheels with brakes. Wh these tennis balls?

i

As others have said, teflon is tough to glue. I would consider making replacement bits that would attach with countersunk screws. Might only last six weeks before the screws start to contact the floor, but would be easy to make and attach.

Dan

Ignoramus8090 fired this volley in news:6YKdnSnRbehRDRnXnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

Some do have wheels, but they're for people who have fair balance and reflexes. Wheels tend to scoot out from under old folks who lean on their walkers the wrong way.

I think, if I were not sure of my ability to catch myself, I'd want skids.

LLoyd

They have wheels on the front, but when you support your weight on the walker, you want it solid. I really learned this last week when they scoped my knee. Coming home, I used a walker I had here for my mom, instead of crutches. Actually worked much better than crutches. The leg had a Block in it, so did not work at all. When I started to collapse from forgetting this, I was able to lean onto the walker to support all my weight. I would Get some Teflon strips or some UHMW, except it may be too slippery, and just drill a small rivet head size depression and pop rivet on new plastic as needed.

I put wheels on the front of my Mom's walker. You need something that will not roll on the back to keep the walker from slipping out from under the user. The tennis balls lasted over a year on her walker. In your case, I think I'd consider making some UHMW poly pieces that would extend up inside the legs, with a series of holes in them so they could be extended down as they wear out. BTW, I have seen walkers with wheels on all four legs. These used a hand brake, simular to a bicycle's brake to lock the front wheels. These had two levers, just like a bicycle, one on each side so the person could easily reach them as they were walking. If someone is in bad shape and really needs a walker, I wonder if they are capable of using the brake levers, though.

As others have mentioned, UHMW would last better than Teflon and is much less expensive to boot. In fact, I think the originals are more likely UHMW than Teflon.

Poke the skis with a hot needle or a soldering iron. UHMW will melt quite easily and give off a waxy odor. Teflon won't budge unless you get it over at least 500F -- but don't get too aggressive, at higher temps it decomposes into some toxic gas.

How about spring loaded wheels and the skids? For the skids how about making the new skids thicker than stock and larger as well. Just cut down the legs to match the new thickness. Or build a power chair....

tap, screw from the top with nylon (or teflon??) screws. This way, as the piece wears, the holding thread will wear, and not the head of the screw. Try microplastics.com

This guy used a small inflatable swimming pool.

"Proctologically Violated©®" fired this volley in news:4a84c510$0$10304$ snipped-for-privacy@cv.net:

Perhaps with large HDPE bolts, but not PTFE... the stuff has virtually zero tensile strength.

LLoyd

Aaamazing! At first I thought "No way!", but there's another video showing more prep-equipment, so I believe.

Thanks for the link (the YouTube signal/noise is way too low for me to browse it).

Bob

They do have wheelie walkers, I have one, temporarily. Rear two wheels have hand brakes. I had one of the wheel-and-post things when I first got out of the hospital, it sucked, big time. The only advantage is that it takes up a little less room in the car when folded. You can get the 4-wheelers at virtually any drugstore for about $100 or so. Just don't get the brand I ended up with, Medline. No spare parts, the major pivot rod holding the thing together(5mm threads) sheared after about 3 days of use, the company doesn't supply spares. Called them up, they said I'd have to go through the retailer, like Walgreens has spares in the back somewhere. Wheels are wearing out after about 8 months of use. Lost an adjustment handle, too, ended up replacing them all with metric cap screws and acorn nuts. I think all of these items are designed to be bought through Medicare, used about 3 weeks and then you're supposed to die. Anyway,

4 wheels, with ball bearings, beats two wheels and dragging two posts around. Anyway, when the humidity is down, I can make normal walking speed supporting about half my weight on the thing. Makes a pretty good shopping cart, too. Hopefully, after the first part of Sept., it can be stored and I won't need it again, ever.

Stan

I think you're going way too hi-tech. Teflon is used in 400 degree environments with nasty chemicals. Delrin, HDPE and wood seem more appropriate.

I've worked in warehouses where HDPE skids wear out every couple of months, but these continually have pallets weighing tons moving over them. Your mom must walk a lot!

A high-tech upgrade for sliders and skids is this stuff called "Rulon

142". It's very expensive (and you might've though Teflon was expensive). But I've seen it used in some high-tech machine tools and it lasts forever (as far as I can figure out.)

Tim.

I've seen some "wheelie walkers" without brakes, produced by a company now defunct; and have a few pictures.