Seat rollers.

[MikeOH]

On 6/7/2017 at 4:27 PM, Yetti said:

I used the measurements on page 2 of this thread. There is a link for Derlin rod also listed on page 1. Mine came from Graingers via Amazon.   I did not even need to replace mine.  Just made them for the fun of it.

@Ragsf15e

It would appear that he did!

[Yetti]

On 1/12/2024 at 3:47 PM, Ragsf15e said:

Did you end up making these?

yes.   I guess I should check to see how they are wearing.   Have not thought about it, so must be ok

[Hank]

So 0.880" OD, 0.250" ID and 0.585" wide? Sounds pretty easy, I'll look around and see how much delrin I have.

All pictures from early pages are gone, lost in the last server move. 

[Ragsf15e]

2 hours ago, Hank said:

So 0.880" OD, 0.250" ID and 0.585" wide? Sounds pretty easy, I'll look around and see how much delrin I have.

All pictures from early pages are gone, lost in the last server move. 

The derlin seems easy to find.  A foot section of .875 diameter is like $4.  I actually ordered some from a place that says they are a full plastic machine shop and asked them to cut/drill slices to those specs.  I’m only 50% confident in what I’m going to get though as the ordering process/website was not English first… however, they are in San Diego.

[Bob E]

[Jan. 23 UPDATE! See page 6 on this forum - The Grainger nylon rollers I mention here also need bushings, which you also can get from Grainger or Home Depot.]  On Nov. 7, 2020 I posted how I replaced my original wooden seat rollers with nylon ones.  The files are in the "downloads" forum. Topic is "Adding headrests to M20C, and replacing original wooden seat rollers with nylon," but really all you need is the photo below showing the spec and where you can get them.  The nylon rollers are a direct drop-in replacement for the wooden ones.  Before and after photos are below.

I replaced mine in 2018 and the nylon rollers are still like new.

[Hank]

Good Lord, @Bob E! Two seats worth of ready-to-use spacers is less than a foot of delrin rod! Gotta love MS, now I don't need to rummage around for delrin scrap, drill and cut them to length. Thanks!

[N201MKTurbo]

FWIW, the original rollers are not wood, they are cotton phenolic composite. The same material aircraft pulleys are made of.

[Ragsf15e]

4 hours ago, Hank said:

Good Lord, @Bob E! Two seats worth of ready-to-use spacers is less than a foot of delrin rod! Gotta love MS, now I don't need to rummage around for delrin scrap, drill and cut them to length. Thanks!

Yes, but $3.41 plus shipping?!! 

[LANCECASPER]

Grainger must have caught wind that people were using them on airplanes. They are now $6.20 plus shipping 

https://www.grainger.com/product/3ZMN2?gucid=N:N:PS:Paid:GGL:CSM-2295:4P7A1P:20501231&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAzJOtBhALEiwAtwj8tndFM_LtjjLhB3dA_pa9n2DD62aic-_uk0PU0Kr2hD7_II-ZF905rhoCMx8QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

[Hank]

13 minutes ago, Ragsf15e said:

Yes, but $3.41 plus shipping?!! 

Five years later, 3ZMN2 Nylon Spacers are $6.20 for a 10 pack.

But the center hole is 10.4 mm > 3/8". That's a little loose for a 1/4" screw, isn't it?

[Ragsf15e]

9 hours ago, Bob E said:

On Nov. 7, 2020 I posted how I replaced my original wooden seat rollers with nylon ones.  The files are in the "downloads" forum. Topic is "Adding headrests to M20C, and replacing original wooden seat rollers with nylon," but really all you need is the photo below showing the spec and where you can get them.  The nylon rollers are a direct drop-in replacement for the wooden ones.  Before and after photos are below.

I replaced mine in 2018 and the nylon rollers are still like new.

Great, you just cost me $40 at Graingers!  No way i can just buy the (now) $6.21 rollers there, had to load up on a few other things!

Thanks for the info!

Drew

[Ragsf15e]

9 hours ago, Bob E said:

On Nov. 7, 2020 I posted how I replaced my original wooden seat rollers with nylon ones.  The files are in the "downloads" forum. Topic is "Adding headrests to M20C, and replacing original wooden seat rollers with nylon," but really all you need is the photo below showing the spec and where you can get them.  The nylon rollers are a direct drop-in replacement for the wooden ones.  Before and after photos are below.

I replaced mine in 2018 and the nylon rollers are still like new.

How does the slightly larger inside diameter work with the screws?  Do they roll ok?

[Bob E]

3 hours ago, N201MKTurbo said:

FWIW, the original rollers are not wood, they are cotton phenolic composite. The same material aircraft pulleys are made of.

Wow, I learned something!  Thanks.  In the past, when my seat rollers split in half (about one or two each year), they looked like wood to me.  Thanks for the info!

Edited January 15, 2024 by Bob E

[Bob E]

2 minutes ago, Ragsf15e said:

How does the slightly larger inside diameter work with the screws?  Do they roll ok?

Yes, they roll fine, and are quieter than the original rollers.  The fit is just right - not too snug, not loose.

[Bob E]

16 minutes ago, Hank said:

Five years later, 3ZMN2 Nylon Spacers are $6.20 for a 10 pack.

But the center hole is 10.4 mm > 3/8". That's a little loose for a 1/4" screw, isn't it?

The nylon rollers aren't loose at all on my '65 C.  I'd recommend just giving them a try. If for some reason the're too loose when installed on your seats, you've lost less than ten bucks, and at least you have some nice rollers you can use for something else!

[Pinecone]

19 minutes ago, Hank said:

Five years later, 3ZMN2 Nylon Spacers are $6.20 for a 10 pack.

But the center hole is 10.4 mm > 3/8". That's a little loose for a 1/4" screw, isn't it?

You can get a 3/8 OD, 1/4 ID plain bushing from the common sources, such as McMaster-Carr.  The slop would only be 1 mm.

[N201MKTurbo]

13 minutes ago, Bob E said:

Wow, I learned something!  Thanks.  In the past, when my seat rollers split in half (about one or two each year), they looked like wood to me.  Thanks for the info!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenol_formaldehyde_resin

Read the application section at the bottom.

[PT20J]

17 minutes ago, Bob E said:

Wow, I learned something!  Thanks.  In the past, when my seat rollers split in half (about one or two each year), they looked like wood to me.  Thanks for the info!

I wouldn’t expect the original ones to split like that. Is it possible someone before you replaced the original rollers with wooden ones?

[Hank]

27 minutes ago, Pinecone said:

You can get a 3/8 OD, 1/4 ID plain bushing from the common sources, such as McMaster-Carr.  The slop would only be 1 mm.

But 3/8" OD is might small, when the rollers on our seats have been measured by others at 7/8" OD.

[Hank]

16 minutes ago, PT20J said:

I wouldn’t expect the original ones to split like that. Is it possible someone before you replaced the original rollers with wooden ones?

I understood his comment about rollers splitting to be a failure mode requiring replacement.

But why did he not just replace all of them when the first one failed?

[PT20J]

14 minutes ago, Hank said:

But 3/8" OD is might small, when the rollers on our seats have been measured by others at 7/8" OD.

I think he meant to put the bushing in the hole to reduce it from 3/8" to 1/4"

[Hank]

Just now, PT20J said:

I think he meant to put the bushing in the hole to reduce it from 3/8" to 1/4"

The Grainger part above, which seems to work, has a 10.4mm = 0.4094" hole in the middle. A 3/8" OD = 9.52 mm bushing won't stay inside very well, just adding an additional bit of slop between the inner and outer bushings.

[Pinecone]

2 hours ago, Hank said:

But 3/8" OD is might small, when the rollers on our seats have been measured by others at 7/8" OD.

Put the metal bushing inside the delrin roller.  So metal is 1/4" to 3/8".  Delrin is 10.8mm to 7/8"

[Bob E]

5 hours ago, PT20J said:

I wouldn’t expect the original ones to split like that. Is it possible someone before you replaced the original rollers with wooden ones?

Maybe, that's an interesting point.  I'm pretty sure they aren't DIY rollers, since the shop that did my annuals back then obtained and installed the replacements! Just for fun I'll check; I'm pretty sure I saved the old ones that weren't split.

[PT20J]

FWIW, I noticed that when the seats are out and there is no load on them, the rollers roll well when dry, but when sitting on the seat, they drag unless you oil them every so often. I put a drop of 3-in-1 oil on them whenever the seats are out.