As the MR-1 has no lifting eyes, and no obvious approach to safety lift it without bending the chip trap, wheels or a pallet are mandatory.
I’ve had good luck using the footmaster gd-40 (non-ratcheting) and gdr-80 (ratcheting) series casters. I had used the gdr-60 series once before and had an issue with ratcheting being a little cranky on one of the wheels out of the set of 4. I purchased the 60 series again this time as I thought there might be enough clearance to mount them directly mated to the foot level mount blocks. I was in error and there wasn’t enough clearance between the casters and the legs. It isn’t a real project without at least one emergency order from mcmaster.
And the same thing happen with this set of 60 series… the pawl (or something) seems to be sloppy on one out of 4. If you attempt a similar modification to your build, I highly recommend going with the gdr-80 series – they are only a few dollars more per wheel.
The foot leveling mount blocks needed to be drilled out and re-tapped as 1/2"-13.
I built a full base and used similar casters, but have the levelling feet down and the base levelled when ai poured the concrete and have not used the casters yet. Have you tried to drop the unit onto it’s casters after the machine was built? Its seems to me with with all that weight it’s going to be difficult to adjust the casters unless you have a pallet jack to take the weight off, which be harder without a base ., hence why I built a base.
I haven’t tried to move the machine yet. The mr-1 is heavier than the one other project I used the gdr-60 series for but I’ve had no problem jacking up significantly heavier equipment with the gdr-80s. If I have significant issues my plan was to try lift up one side with toe jacks to replace the 60s with 80s.
i have moved mine around after being built and its not bad. the little arms to adjust the height do get hard to turn but its not bad. mine have holes that you could put a rod in to help adjust.
Safety3rd, I love this idea. My machine is scheduled to arrive later this week so I’m starting to get prepared for my build. While looking around on the forum I ran across this post with excitement. Wheels are a major concern of mine so thanks for doing my homework…LOL. Thanks to you I will be ordering the GDR-80S wheels today. I do have a question for you, is there a reason why you didn’t relocate the mounting plate holes lower on the leg or even cut the bottom of the legs down to accommodate the leveling wheels?
The reason was mostly time. I was on vacation for the holidays and in a rush to get to the concrete pour.
If was to do it again I would have probably spent a week working on only modeling the machine in f360. I’m sure I’m eventually going to end up doing this and it would be much easier to do without the enclosure in the way and everything coated in chips stuck to coolant.
I remain frustrated that langmuir hasn’t released step files or drawings.
The MR-1 should be well under 1000#. The 60 series is rated at 550# each but I wouldn’t want to load them that high. I have two loads well over 1000# on the 4x 80 series without issue. I do recommend the 80 series. I went with the 60s as I thought there would be enough clearance for the casters to not be installed at the end of long set screws (I was wrong).
Sorry to tell you but you are wrong.
If everything about this machine is so poorly engineered why the hell did you buy one.
I watched your whining threads for a week now. Drains stink, limits switch stink, CutControl bugs etc. It seems that all your problems are totally self induced.
There are many of us that use this machine without problems everyday. Thats right, my CutControl works everyday. My probes are all intact. My probe program works perfectly.
The problem is yours. Leave everything alone and it will work for you. Your backyard engineering is obvious.
I now have someone to block on this forum.
Without adding some type of frame or base at the bottom of the legs this seems like a bad idea to add dynamic lateral forces at the bottom of the legs of a machine that relies on rigidity for accuracy. I know some members who have used these same leveling casters on their plasma tables have ended up removing them because their table worked it’s way out of square being rolled around in a similar manner.
That’s an interesting data point. It sounds like the issue was due to the vibration from moving the machine rather than the presence of casters.
I don’t have a pallet jack at home or the desire to have to store one, so having the option of being able to relocate the machine is important to me.
To be honest, I’m skeptical that rolling the machine around is going to apply larger moments than what is induced from normal operation. When cutting at 60ipm the base is visibly moving.
if you roll on anything but a perfectly flat surface any crack or debris is going to use the leg as a lever arm to bend againtst the pan. Id at a minimum attach some 1" angle iron around the base of the legs but would probably also add a diagonal to the back and one of the sides.
I wasn’t suggesting you go out and buy a forklift. Just that it would be a good idea to add a little rigidity to the base before adding the wheels. Sounds like you have thought this through, and probably understand the principles of statics and dynamics better than I do. Others reading this may want to consider it.
Somebody recommended this on the form a while ago, I picked it up a few weeks ago when moving mine into its more permanent position.
It’s a little underrated in my opinion, and I’m not a fan of Harbor freight for most tools, however for the price and only jacking the machine up half-inch I was willing to trust it. It’s came in handy for work and moving other objects around the garage already.
