New wheel backing options!

Ok, so I am continuously looking for different options people can use so that it’s easier to find the supplies needed to make a wheel.

Recently I found other backing options for the wheels!

Anyway, one of the new options is a wall shield/protector.
Here’s a photo of what I’m talking about:


I had been looking for something like this for forever! I knew I wasn’t crazy and something like this existed. Haha 😛
Here are two links: Wall Protector Lowe’s Wall Protector Home Depot
I got it at Lowe’s but I’m sure you can get some at other hardware stores. Home Depot and Ace Hardware sell them. Walmart seems to sell them as well.

Anyway, I LOVE this option.
It’s basically the same as the acrylic sheet BUT you don’t have to cut it into a circle….it already is a circle! Way easier! XD
And, in my opinion, it’s better than the ceiling covers, too.

A ceiling cover costs $2.10 and you need two. The wall shield costs $2.97 but you only need one and you don’t have to sand down the pegs to make it flush against the lid. 😛 (These are Lowe’s prices.)
You do have to remove the tape on the back. I used a box cutter to remove them.  I just passed the blade under the tape.
It’s way easier and faster than sanding down the pegs of the ceiling covers.

  

Basically, it’s less work and cheaper to use the wall shield.

Anyway, the wheels feels very solid with it.
I haven’t had any issues with it. 🙂

Here are some photos:

There were other smaller sizes of the shield but I went with the 5″ one. I won’t be trying the smaller ones so I will only recommend the 5″ one.
And the price difference is very small. The 3.75″ ones were like $2.47. Hardly worth the difference to get that one.

The process is basically the same as the acrylic sheet.
The shield doesn’t have the pegs, so you’re going to have to decide yourself where to drill the holes for the binding posts.
I like to make them closer to the edge than the center. You can kind of tell by looking at the photo above.

Oh, and the binding posts are 3/16″. You will need to use them.
The shield doesn’t lie completely flat once the bolt is tightened so the binding posts will make it lie flat against the lid.
Depending on the distance between the holes you drilled, you might end up needing more than four binding posts to make the shield lie completely flat against the lid.

I’d also like to point out, although I show it on the previous photo, that the 3″ bolt extends a little past the PVC tee. I tried using a 2.5″ bolt but it was too short.
So with this backing you’re going to have to cut/grind the bolt if you want to use a nylon hole plug. If not, just cut the PVC plug using a PVC cutter to make it shorter. 🙂

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I have also used this:

It’s a “Plastic Round Blank Cover” for wet locations. It comes in white and grey.
You can find it at Lowe’s (http://tinyurl.com/hdjwngr) and probably Home Depot as well.
It’s awesome because it already has the four holes that the binding posts would go through.
BUT it’s a pain to remove the foam gasket.
At least for me it was.

It uses the same binding post size as the wall shield.

 

Oh! And I’ve been using these bearings for a few months and they have been working perfectly. Prices change on Amazon with time but they are generally a few dollars cheaper than the Bones Red bearings.
http://tinyurl.com/grnym2z