NOTE -- This is one of the projects I did a decade ago and which was lost due to the old GG website crash. I managed to restore the thread from old backup text files and insert the pics as necessary.
You guys know that I've been looking for a pipe trolley for my Host rail that I built a few weeks ago. I was going to go with a pipe trolley system, but decided that this may be just the project to design my own trolley.
Here is the Hoist project from a few weeks ago --
The pipe needs a trolley to make the hoist glide. So I chucked up two of these old iron wheels that I used several years ago to make English Wheel anvils with. IIRC I got about 20 of them from Northern Tool at the time because they were on sale for $1.50 each on a closeout.
The plan is to install some good bearings, and then cut the concave radius so that the wheel will track on the pipe.
First I chucked the wheels up and used a small boring bar to cut the bores for the bearings.
After the bores were done, I used my trusty homemade radius cutter to form the 2-1/2" radius that I needed for the rail.
This cast iron cuts very difficult because it flakes, so every now and then I smoothed it out with some emory cloth to make the surface easier for the cutter to traverse.
After about 30 minutes I was able to get my radius completed with one final smooth cut.
The finished trolley wheels with bearings installed --
Next, I'll have to build a frame around those wheels. That's a job for next week. beerdude
Here is the thread for the trolley frame build
http://garagegazette.com/index.php?topic=3062.msg34858#msg34858