Roller question oh Guru's

[Robert Ducharme]

I need to put some portable rollers in front/behind various tools for longer pieces of wood. I have seen many cheap ones that are just a single roller (like a rolling pin for baking) on an adjustable stand. I also have a bunch of bearing(?) type rollers. These are steel boxes with about 7 balls sticking up through the top.

The bearing type will let me move the wood sidewards as well as forward and backward (like the roller stands).

My question is what is the drawback of using the bearing type? They have less surface area touching the wood. Is this good or bad. Will I get "dents" or groves in the wood as it passes over the balls? How about affect on any parts that may be finished/sanded? Do the rollers cause less damage to the material?

[Jim Becker]

The advantage to the roller balls is that they do not skew the direction of the stock in any way. The disadvantage is that they are poor for very narrow stock for obvious reasons. "Regular" rollers are better for that. But you might want to consider building your own and merely putting something slick on the stop, such as that white plastic stuff. As long as there is minimal friction, it will work nearly as well as something that "turns". IMHO, of course.

[Walt Pater]

Robert, I am hardly a Guru, but I use ball rollers on either side of my SCMS and as an outfeed on my TS. I have never noticed any marks left on whatever stock I was using. I really prefer them to to the cylindrical type. Walt.

[Chris Padilla]

If you go for the cylinder type on the side of the saw, be sure to angle it in a couple degrees so it doesn't pull the wood away from the fence during cutting...rather push it towards the fence.

[Bob_Hammond]

Home Depot sells a stand they call the Ridgid Flip Top stand. It doesn't have rollers, but I like it. It's only about $30, and quick and easy to use. I built an outfeed table for my table saw, but I use this with long or large pieces. It comes in useful with the drill press which has a pretty small table.

Bob

[Dave Avery]

Robert,

I have the expensive ones from Rockler that flip from cylinder to bearings..... like them pretty well. You can get them on "sale" for $59.99 at times. Dave.