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Building a caster wheel mobile base

Landslide

Landslide

Red Skull Member
Joined
May 20, 2020
Member Number
422
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1,435
So, I have this heavy ass Lyon (think vidmar) drawer cabinet I bought to put my machinist tools in and put it between my mill and lathe. Like I said it’s very heavy and I need to be able to move it. I need to keep the caster wheel base low profile as I was it easy to see into the top drawer. It’s 60” tall and I’m 6’2” tall but I don’t want it much taller

So I used steel I have in stock to build the frame with and after cutting everything up I needed, I only had two 1/8” thick tubing off all left. Pretty crazy on that part.

I made the caster wheel bolt plates years ago when I operated a waterjet table.

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Holly fucking overkill. :lmao:


Why outboard the wheels? Just to keep the height down a bit? I have a bunch of index cabinets I use for tooling and small stock/drops. I make frames out of this really light 2x4 angle that I got years ago....like sheet metal gauge light. I usually just use the casters off an HF furniture dolly because it's cheaper to buy the dolly for $10 than 4 individual casters. Since the casters go under the load and not outboard, the frame really doesn't need to be all the strong. They work fine and I can build them for $10-15 + the time.
 
I used that angle I had because there’s inner legs on the sides of the cabinet clearly designed to touch the floor for added support and I wanted to capture those. Use what I have also

Everything going inside this cabinet is made out of steel. At the end of the day I don’t want to have a base or wheels that’ll collapse over time due to so much weight.

Overkill? Yeah but I’ll never have to worry about it :laughing:
 
Why did you decide to off board the casters instead of put them under the cabinet? Looks like you didn't save much height.
 
bgaidan said:
Holly fucking overkill. :lmao:


Why outboard the wheels? Just to keep the height down a bit? I have a bunch of index cabinets I use for tooling and small stock/drops. I make frames out of this really light 2x4 angle that I got years ago....like sheet metal gauge light. I usually just use the casters off an HF furniture dolly because it's cheaper to buy the dolly for $10 than 4 individual casters. Since the casters go under the load and not outboard, the frame really doesn't need to be all the strong. They work fine and I can build them for $10-15 + the time.
Click to expand...
This.

Bed frames and cheap chinese steel wheel casters will hold up a filing cabinet with four drawers full of steel drops just fine.

I've broken a fair number of the casters from the cheap dolly so now I spend the extra few bucks on the chinese steel wheel ones.

Outboarding the wheels just makes it harder to put shit right up against the cabinet and isn't worth it IMO
 
Nice job.

The outboarding is awesome, fuck everybody else. :laughing:

And about not being able to store shit tight against it, well that's because you haven't added the side storage racks that you're planning. Great spot for longer stuff upright.

I don't like having 4 swivel casters, prefer two that are fixed as it's easier to predictably steer it around. I deal with it a lot with snowmobile dollies, you're pushing one end and the other is fucking off sideways. There's some grocery stores with carts like that and it's awful.

I've always liked those Lincoln tombstone cart wheels (like the ones in your picture), especially how they're simple to make from common parts (big pipe, little pipe, flatbar, etc) and have no need for bearings.
 
Muckin_Slusher said:
Nice job.

The outboarding is awesome, fuck everybody else. :laughing:

And about not being able to store shit tight against it, well that's because you haven't added the side storage racks that you're planning. Great spot for longer stuff upright.

I don't like having 4 swivel casters, prefer two that are fixed as it's easier to predictably steer it around. I deal with it a lot with snowmobile dollies, you're pushing one end and the other is fucking off sideways. There's some grocery stores with carts like that and it's awful.

I've always liked those Lincoln tombstone cart wheels (like the ones in your picture), especially how they're simple to make from common parts (big pipe, little pipe, flatbar, etc) and have no need for bearings.
Click to expand...
All this. Nice work, Landslide!!
 
Slide, did you remember the oil ?
 
GLTHFJ60 said:
Why did you decide to off board the casters instead of put them under the cabinet? Looks like you didn't save much height.
Click to expand...
I saved around 4” height, the cabinet sets down inside the base which is hard to see once it’s in there. That’s a big difference even for me as tall as I am. I don’t want to stain myself trying to look inside the top drawer.
 
Muckin_Slusher said:
Nice job.

The outboarding is awesome, fuck everybody else. :laughing:

And about not being able to store shit tight against it, well that's because you haven't added the side storage racks that you're planning. Great spot for longer stuff upright.

I don't like having 4 swivel casters, prefer two that are fixed as it's easier to predictably steer it around. I deal with it a lot with snowmobile dollies, you're pushing one end and the other is fucking off sideways. There's some grocery stores with carts like that and it's awful.

I've always liked those Lincoln tombstone cart wheels (like the ones in your picture), especially how they're simple to make from common parts (big pipe, little pipe, flatbar, etc) and have no need for bearings.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I plan on storing stuff on the sides, thinking about my creepers on there for one idea but who knows what’ll end up being.

I can’t bitch about the caster wheels as I got several sets of them for free. One thing about them is I can move it sideways if needed but overall, once it’s in place, it won’t move very often. Like my tool boxes and that on wheels is important to me. I plan on building mobile bases for my mill and lathe as well with HD leveling feet. That’s a someday job.
 
Landslide said:
I can’t bitch about the caster wheels as I got several sets of them for free. One thing about them is I can move it sideways if needed but overall,
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Remember that swivel casters can always pretend to be rigid casters, but not the other way around...

Since I'm on a caster rant, and already mentioned the grocery store carts...am I the only one that prefer pushing grocery carts backwards?
It's so much easier to steer and control driving it like a forklift.
 
Muckin_Slusher said:
Remember that swivel casters can always pretend to be rigid casters, but not the other way around...

Since I'm on a caster rant, and already mentioned the grocery store carts...am I the only one that prefer pushing grocery carts backwards?
It's so much easier to steer and control driving it like a forklift.
Click to expand...
It’s good sometimes but making sharpe turns is better with the wiggley wheels up front.
 
Muckin_Slusher said:
Remember that swivel casters can always pretend to be rigid casters, but not the other way around...

Since I'm on a caster rant, and already mentioned the grocery store carts...am I the only one that prefer pushing grocery carts backwards?
It's so much easier to steer and control driving it like a forklift.
Click to expand...
Put a toddler in the grocery cart seat and push it backwards, he thinks he's driving, it's great fun.
 
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