Good casters on the cheap

discordanian · Post by **discordanian** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 10:18 am

I'm trying to build some shop storage and I need to put everything on sturdy casters, but the casters at the local hardware store seem pretty expensive. I can buy armloads of 2x4 for a few bucks, but I can't put it on a caster for under $15 per wheel?

Anyone have a good source? I would greatly appreciate it.

SDSSmith · Post by **SDSSmith** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 11:37 am

Have you considered Horror Freight? Here is one example already for a box.... http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/d ... mber=93888 I do enjoy going to their store.

roy_okc · Post by **roy_okc** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 11:52 am

Woodcraft has a sale on heavy duty casters: http://www.woodcraft.com/Family/2001989/2001989.aspx?refcode=09IN11RL

Still not cheap, but under $15 and appear to be fairly sturdy.

Roy

fjimp · Post by **fjimp** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 12:55 pm

roy_okc wrote:Woodcraft has a sale on heavy duty casters: http://www.woodcraft.com/Family/2001989/2001989.aspx?refcode=09IN11RL

Still not cheap, but under $15 and appear to be fairly sturdy.

Roy

I have put casters under almost everything in my shop. The red casters such as those woodcraft has on sale appear to be the best quality of any I have found. That is a great buy for a solid product. Jim

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 1:03 pm

discordanian wrote:I'm trying to build some shop storage and I need to put everything on sturdy casters, but the casters at the local hardware store seem pretty expensive. I can buy armloads of 2x4 for a few bucks, but I can't put it on a caster for under $15 per wheel?

Anyone have a good source? I would greatly appreciate it.

Cut some of those 2x4 into squares and 'turn' them into 'wheels'! You can then mount them on to $2 bolts attached to more 2x4s. Another $2 bolt through the 2x4 vertically and through the storage thingy and they Might also swivel!:D

roy_okc · Post by **roy_okc** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 2:25 pm

Why use bolts. Just turn some dowels from the 2X4s at the same time you're turning the wheels.

JPG40504 wrote:Cut some of those 2x4 into squares and 'turn' them into 'wheels'! You can then mount them on to $2 bolts attached to more 2x4s. Another $2 bolt through the 2x4 vertically and through the storage thingy and they Might also swivel!:D

mickyd · Post by **mickyd** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 3:14 pm

JPG40504 wrote:Cut some of those 2x4 into squares and 'turn' them into 'wheels'! You can then mount them on to $2 bolts attached to more 2x4s. Another $2 bolt through the 2x4 vertically and through the storage thingy and they Might also swivel!:D

Where the heck do you buy your bolts!!!:D

horologist · Post by **horologist** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 4:01 pm

I'm not sure this is an area where you want to skimp too much. This is especially important if you are talking about heavy loads, just consider how big a nuisance or danger it will be should a caster fail. Your best bet for savings is to buy good casters that are rated for your load. The Woodcraft casters look fine you may also want to look at MSC or McMaster Carr. Likely they will have casters that cost less and a few for a whole lot more.

The neoprene wheels are nice in that they don't get the flat spots that the hard rubber wheels will get if your cabinet sits stationary for a long time.

The load rating may or may not include some factor of safety. You could contact the seller for detailed specifications or to be safe just assume they will break at the rated load. Figure out how much the total load (weight of cabinet and all contents) will be, double it (the stress guy in me) and divide by four (the number of wheels). You want the capability of the caster to be greater than this value.

I built a platform for a pinion cutting machine (about 200lb) that I store under my Shopsmith. Our local hardware store had casters that have worked well for about $3 or $4 each.

mickyd · Post by **mickyd** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 4:35 pm

JPG40504 wrote:Cut some of those 2x4 into squares and 'turn' them into 'wheels'! You can then mount them on to $2 bolts attached to more 2x4s. Another $2 bolt through the 2x4 vertically and through the storage thingy and they Might also swivel!:D

I'll go with the wooden wheel / bolt idea but only if you first install metal sleeves / busings. There's a nasty thing called friction that you want to reduce the best you can and a metal on metal vs. a wood on metal interface will reduce it tremendously. Other than that, good idea. (Cavemen did it for years. I used to sell them the bolts.

)

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 5:31 pm

Go with the casters from Woodcraft. The ones I used are double locking (lock both the wheel and the swivel) and they are easy rolling. I used four under a my work bench and so far after a summer's use I can't fault them at all. The bench is also a storage cabinet loaded with HEAVY tools, cast iron clamps and steel hand tools. On the back of the bench is sheet good storage for smaller pieces of ply.
The casters don't go flat on the bottom, lock securely enough I can still work lumber on my bench and as I said above roll easily even over uneven surfaces.

I looked at Horror Fright casters and frankly they weren't 1/10 the quality of the Woodcraft ones and they cost nearly the same.

The idea of using wood sounds good but by the time you work through all the problems, figure a way to keep them rolling and etc you will have the cost of the Woodcraft casters spent.

Believe me, I don't spend a dime unless I have to and I would buy the Woodcraft casters again in a heartbeat.