rollers vs. bearings for outfeed support

[Michael Press]

Are roller stands acceptable for TS/RAS outfeed support? The Lee Valley catalog says they can cause the work to be misdirected, and they suggest ball bearing-topped supports instead (but those would seem useless for supported a board on edge...). Opinions?

Michael

[yobosaeyo]

I would think just using melamie backed particle board would work best. Stuff slides much easier on it than it did on my old p.o.s. rollerstand that always wanted to fall over!

[Greg O]

Rollers or ball bearings are overkill for the most part. A table with a formica or melamine surface works great. Greg

[Russ Milbeck]

Hi Michael, I had a set of ball bearing units from Grizzly seize from rust within the first year. Roller stands have worked well for me. On the cheap I've made a set from an old white cutting board (very similar to UHMW material) cut and counter-screwed to the stands I built. Bullnose the leading edge for easier "loading".

take care, Russ

[Rob]

I have stands that have both balls and rollers. They work well but I agree with the last post that a melamine backed board would probably work just as well and maybe even better. And, you could build it yourself.

Rob

[Groggy]

Yes they are acceptable. Preferred? No.

Lee Valley are correct, unless perfectly aligned there is a tendancy for the roller to pull items off course.

1. Ball bearings are good for large and wide pieces, but a pain if feeding long stock with a thin offcut.
2. As previously stated by others, melamine is acceptable although still has some drag effect.
3. A roller type stand with UHMW plastic as the guide surface is better.
4. Triton manufactures such a stand as mentioned in item 3 above (I happen to have two) and they are relatively inexpensive as they have multiple purposes. They can also be used on uneven ground.

There was a recent article on stands in one of the WW mags, in it the comments on the Triton were not very accurate, IMHO. I thought the author lacked both imagination and experience with the product. Reading the manual would have overcome some of his issues at least. Decide for yourself:

USA

Stand:

[Jon Wood]

How about the low friction furnature glides that cost about $2?

--Jon

[Groggy]

Jon,

I'd guess they'd be the same as the bearings, good for large boards but a nuisance with smaller stock. A single, wide piece is better - with no lips to catch on.

Greg

[George]

They'd be a little better than bearings, which have a tendency to get jammed with dust and chips at my house.

How about a "lip and glide" setup with the leading edge a 3/8 UHMW strip, then plastic glides? Best of both worlds.

If rollers, fix them to the machine, or fix them beyond a casual bump in the proper relationship to the machine.

[Lawrence Wasserman]

Yes the roller stands do have a tendency to steer the work but it is easy to angle them so that this tendency is beneficial. When I'm ripping plywood I use a roller stand and angle it so it helps keep the sheet against the fence.