Caster wheels for machines

[SheltathaLore]

For those of you who like to roll your machines around, do you have a favorite brand/style of casters?  I'm really tired of not being able to rearrange my shop on my own, so it might be time to slap wheels on everything.

[Rockoboy]

Any wheels I might put under a machine would have to have a locking option IMHO. I guess that might depend on your floor surface - how easy is it for your machine to move about when you want it to stay put? If I had a good floor, I would want lockable wheels.

[SheltathaLore]

My floors aren't super smooth, but locking is a nice feature to have regardless.

[alpha2]

My CowBoy 4500 has locking wheels, and I can't imagine not having that feature. Also, the machine and stand is really heavy, and a good quality wheel is essential. This is not a place to scrimp. 

Jeff

[R8R]

Remember that even a 2" locking caster will raise the table up a few inches. Often the treadle cross arms will need to be lowered with blocks or pieces of tubing to make them comfortable to use. 

[SheltathaLore]

6 minutes ago, R8R said:

Remember that even a 2" locking caster will raise the table up a few inches. Often the treadle cross arms will need to be lowered with blocks or pieces of tubing to make them comfortable to use. 

I understand the problem you're describing, but I just can't visualize your solution.  Do you happen to have a picture of how the blocks or tubing would solve it?

[atexascowboy]

2 hours ago, SheltathaLore said:

For those of you who like to roll your machines around, do you have a favorite brand/style of casters?  I'm really tired of not being able to rearrange my shop on my own, so it might be time to slap wheels on everything.

I went to Walmart and purchased one of their steel restocking carts for $100 cash (which the manager probably pocketed) . They had several out behind their store . I mounted my buffing wheels and bandsaw on it. Handy, sturdy and highly manuverable. I went back and bought one for my 275 lb. anvil and forge. Can't live without them. Great for rearranging and cleaning.

I attached a pic of two of my students in my "Wounded Warrior" school for spurmaking.

[Aven]

Check out Rockler (Renton) Woodcraft Supply (Corson Ave).  They both have casters you can screw onto your base or a casters and a frame for your base to set into.  They are designed for the weight of woodworking machinery, so they should be able to handle your sewing machines.

[R8R]

1 hour ago, SheltathaLore said:

I understand the problem you're describing, but I just can't visualize your solution.  Do you happen to have a picture of how the blocks or tubing would solve it?

This thread explains it pretty well:

 

[SheltathaLore]

Aha, the "tubing" is rigid and provides an offset so that the pedal ends up in the right place.  I was thinking it involved flexible tubing, which was clearly not going to be helpful.

[Daviddm]

Funny cause not but a few hours ago I put some on my Landis finisher and pushed it easily over to where I wanted it. And a big plus is it raised it up about 4 inches. I second it on buying a couple of locked ones. 

[Constabulary]

This is what I did to lower the foot pedal bar when I installed 2" casters. The pedal bar is custom and originally belonged to a different stand.

[DonInReno]

On 12/1/2018 at 4:34 PM, atexascowboy said:

I went to Walmart and purchased one of their steel restocking carts for $100 cash

Awesome!

 

 

[DonInReno]

My sewing table gets moved around the house depending on if company is coming over or the type of project.   I don’t need locking casters on this table because it’s kept on carpet and instead of swivel casters they are fixed - I’m pushing and pulling against their normal rotation while sewing so there’s no movement.  These are 5” wheels and it’s about right for me and the door threadholds and transitions from carpet to tile it rolls over.  The only thing I don’t like is I can smell the rubber - they will eventually get changed to ones with a steel center and black polyurethane contact surface.   If you go with larger casters such as this it’s important to design them into your stand and how they interact with your feet/ankles.  In my normal sewing position I’m straddling this leg so it wouldn’t matter how large the wheel was.

Check out https://www.surpluscenter.com/Casters/ for a nice variety showing different wheel compounds from mild to wild.  These are industrial surplus so the quality will range from so-so to good to something so good you’d never be able to afford it at full price! Lol

if you have hardwood floors it’s a good idea to stay away from anything with a hard wheel compound.  Polyurethane has a wide range of hardnesses, but is normally hardwood floor friendly.  Nylon is durable, but might dent hardwood.  Rubber might be ok, but it also might leave black marks.  The smaller the diameter and thinner the width, the more likely it will be to cause problems on delicate floors.  Steel should only be used on concrete - if used on carpet I’d suggest placing something under them or any moisture will leave rust marks.  Steel wheels will chip tile and the hard edges will dent wood so put a half dozen wraps of electrical tape over them when needed.

[brmax]

I will suggest the style rather than brands as they will be renamed likely anyway

What I have used and mounted in different ways are the swivel type. In particular they have and need “ both” braking and swivel locking. 

The frame you have to attach to is a key point here, I think.  Another thought is if the floor rolling surface is not hard surface. I personally think a wheel bigger than 2.5” is required, as residential carpet is thicker. 

I  have installed, by welding many of these on my  k stands. These stands can be a real pain for this in my opinion.  

On the other hand as a young grunt, ages ago in upholstery shop. Boards of 2x4” were comonly used on bottom of k-stand legs ( front to back ) and this provided a superb mount surface for casters, without welding. Over 40 years ago

The e-place has what I found great prices with 5” casters in the past with features mentioned. I used this size on shop tables and smaller diameter, from local box stores on k stands for concrete floor surfaces.  

In any case bigger is much easier to “ start “ the roll.  Finding ones with either steel or aluminum locking parts, especially the foot application part is more durable, btdt.

 

Good day

Floyd

 

 

[billybopp]

The best casters for you really depends on your situation!   There are a ton of choices all with pros and cons.  Personally, I'd go with something like this from Woodcraft (and probably available elsewhere as well). They won't raise your stand at all until you are ready to move it, and the wheels won't go out of round if things aren't moved around for a long time.  You just flip the wheels down when you are ready to move stuff!  The only downside to that particular wheel it that they are smallish and could be a pain on carpet or uneven floors.  Maybe somebody makes something similar with bigger wheels?

- Bill

[SheltathaLore]

Oh nice, I really like those flip down workbench casters. Saves me the trouble of moving the pedal mount, for one. 

 

As for the table, I'm sure I can rig up *something* to get them to bolt on - I was more interested in the general specs to look for. Honestly though, since I doubt that a table with machine is likely to weigh more than 250 lbs, heavy duty industrial casters would be neat but probably aren't critical. A loaded workbench surely weighs that much or more. Any caster that isn't obviously dinky should surely be rated for at least 60 pounds, right? 

 

I do intend for the machines to live on a hard surface, but plans can always change, so I agree that it would be handy to have casters that can cope with carpet.