Wanted - Casters for Diamond Disc machine

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Valecnik
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Wanted - Casters for Diamond Disc machine

Post by Valecnik »

I'm looking for a real nice set of casters for an Edison Diamond disc. They could be the early brass ones or later feltoid but need to be in good condition, (that means if feltoid then perfectly round as opposed to the squarish ones I have now).

Thanks alot.

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Valecnik
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Re: Wanted - Casters for Diamond Disc machine

Post by Valecnik »

Thought I'd try one more time. I'm still looking for some nice Diamond Disc machine casters.

Thanks.

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Re: Wanted - Casters for Diamond Disc machine

Post by gramophoneshane »

Bruce,

I managed to fix my feltoid casters about a month ago & they're like brand new now.
I just removed them from their sockets, and holding each one by the stem, I held them against my belt sander & allowed them spin on the sand paper.
At first I held them on an angle like in the picture below. This just helped grind the surface down quicker because the wheel offers some resistance to the sand paper while still spinning fairly freely, & once the casters were almost perfectly round again, I let them run straight on the sand paper.
The worst one (that had a flat spot almost down to the metal hub) only took about 2 minutes to do.

I know it sounds like a pretty drastic move, but my C19 now rolls around as it should, and by exposing a fresh surface on the feltoid, they are quieter & they dont leave marks on the floor from nearly a century of dirt being inbedded in the wheels.
Just be sure to hold the stem tight (not like in the picture ;) ), and there's no need to put alot of press on them either. Just let the sand paper do all the work for you.
It's a good opportunity to clean any threads & dust off (and lightly oil) the axles, and put a little grease on the castor stems so they all rotate without squeaks.
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caster 002.JPG

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Re: Wanted - Casters for Diamond Disc machine

Post by OrthoFan »

If you're not able to repair them, I'm wondering if some of these would work: http://www.paxtonhardware.com/Furniture ... rtments/4/


The wooden ones -- http://www.paxtonhardware.com/Wood-Whee ... ments/206/ -- though not authentic, look like they'd be attractive, and a close looking match:

Image

Also, Walt mentions casters on his site -- http://www.victrolaguy.com/ -- so you may want to check with him.

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Re: Wanted - Casters for Diamond Disc machine

Post by Jerry B. »

I received an email from a fellow with some casters. They are attached to an $550 A250 in Bend, Oregon. See you at Union. Jerry Blais

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Re: Wanted - Casters for Diamond Disc machine

Post by Valecnik »

Shane, Ortho,

Thanks for the suggestions. The ones on my machine are not only out of round, a couple of them won't even turn. They are murder on our wood floors. The machine must have been in a very damp location for some time although it doesn't look it.

I would go for the new wood ones if I knew which ones to order.

Jerry, I like the option of buying some with an A250 attached. You know I have a weakness for the early DD machines, but with two A250s already...

Yes you will see me at Union unless that darn volcanoe screws things up!

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Re: Wanted - Casters for Diamond Disc machine

Post by OrthoFan »

Valecnik wrote:Shane, Ortho,

I would go for the new wood ones if I knew which ones to order.
Probably, the larger one -- #6539 -- but you can check the measurements against the ones you have.

From what I can tell, it's simply a matter of removing the old casters, inserting the sleeve into the hole, and inserting the caster's rod into that.

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Re: Wanted - Casters for Diamond Disc machine

Post by gramophoneshane »

In most cases, new caster stems will fit straight into original caster sockets, so you probably wouldn't have to change the sockets.
Personally though, I'm not a big fan of wooden casters. Although they do look nice, I've found they wear & develop flat spots quicker than anything else, & unless the wheels themselves have metal hubs, the axle will often ovalise the wheel centres.
I guess it really depends how much movement the machine is likely to encounter. If you're not intending on using your DD as a shopping trolley, wooden wheeled casters would probably stand up to limited use.

One of my casters was frozen as well, but after a clean & a drop of oil on the axle, it freed up quickly. I have had casters where the forks(?) were bent on an angle to one side, preventing the wheel from turning, but a firm blow from a hammer on the opposite side has always fixed that too :)

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