Retractable casters

[Robert Mahon]

I remember seeing retractable casters in a WW supply catalog that bolted to each leg of a TS. Unfortunately, I don't remember which catalog.
Can anyone point me in the right direction?

I'd like to consider them rather than a mobile base for my developing workbench.

[Mike Seals]

I remember seeing retractable casters in a WW supply catalog that bolted to each leg of a TS. Unfortunately, I don't remember which catalog.
Can anyone point me in the right direction?

I'd like to consider them rather than a mobile base for my developing workbench.

What timing, I'm looking in vain for the same thing for my work bench, lets hope soe one can show us the way.

[Jake Helmboldt]

Woodcraft used to have them and I think they still do (thought they don't seem to be on their website). I got mine there. Perhaps give your local one a call and see if they have them.


They are OK, but are a bit flimsy, and if your floor is at all rought they don't roll as well as I'd like (my concrete garage floor is old and not too smooth). But they are cheap and get the job done. If you will be moving the saw a lot you might want to consider a mobile base. I plan to install better quality hard rubber wheels on mine.

[Jeremy Gibson]

Woodcraft was just the place I thought had these too. I did find a URL to them:
http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=3703

I have no experience with these, just thought I'd pass on the link.

["Michael Hinkel"]

"Woodcraft was just the place I thought had these too. I did find a URL to them:
http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=3703"

I have had these on my RAS for several years. They are flimsy and add about 6" all the way around, they do not roll that well over rough floors or a not so clean floor. I have added locking casters directly to the bottom of some of my stuff with good results. I put a set of those large plasic slides under my drum sander/stand and to my surprise it works.

[Ben Grunow]

Not sure what type of bench you are building but I have an assembly table in my shop with non-swiveling 4" casters on the bottom of 2 legs and it is easy to move by just lifting one end (as long as it is not too loaded) even on my padded floor (1/2" costco foam). Maybe yours is going to be too nice for such a cave man solution? Maybe not.

[Dave Sabo]

I think Zambus casters are a lot sturdier, and for sure will hold more weight. Depending on size they are about the same price.


http://www.zambus.com/

[glenn bradley]

The Woodcraft link from Jeremy is the one I was thinking of but I don't know how well they would transfer to a 90* workbench leg. Looks like the Zambus would fair better there but the lowering mechanism might become tedious if the bench if moved frequently.

[Robert Mahon]

My bench is based on the Grizzly 72" X 30" Maple top, supported by the Grizzly Heavy duty steel frame.
Unfortunatley, the frame is not true and wobbles a bit. That can be fixed easily enough though.

In addition, on a whim, I bought the Grizzly 6" locking casters, raising the bench top to my preferred height of 40+". Unfortunately again, they contribute to the wobble and will be returned.

As I won't be moving the bench all that often and have a smooth floor, I was thinking the retractable casters from Woodcraft would suffice. If not, there is nothing wrong with the "Caveman" approach (it's worked for me for years).

Lastly, I have been building machines for over 40 years and have learned from experience that caster-mounted machines will never be as sure-footed as those placed squarely on the floor. In this case, I thought it would be rigid enough to work with. They aren't.
Consequently, my quest for casters that can be retracted, allowing direct leg-to-floor contact.

[Alan Berezin]

Ill just throw out an idea. I actually saw this and thought it was very clever. A guy had welded up a mobile base for his table saw. Beyond the fact that it was the nicest I had seen at any price, he had a cool feature. At the 4 corners and 1 points along each long side, he had welded a large nut. Though that went a large bolt with a steel rod welded on top to act as a handle. This assembly allowed him to roll the saw into place, turn the "feet" a few rotations, and have a super stable base with a low profile.

I thought about doing something similar for a work cart that I wanted to double as a bench (so had to be very stable). I was going to get some steel plate, perhaps 4x8", bolt a caster to one side, drill a hole in the other and weld a large nut. These home made "casters with feet" can then be used in place of regular casters.

[Charlie Barnes]

I used the Woodcraft casters when I built my bench a couple of years ago. The retracting mechanism is fine, however the original casters themselves weren't strong enough and soon distorted. It was pretty easy to retrofit the retracting mechanism with some casters from HD (2 1/2" or 3", I can't remember). They are plenty strong enough to handle moving the bench inside my garage. No complaints since the replacement.

These pictures are with the original casters. This is my first attempt at posting pictures. Hope it works.

[Bob Taylor]

Norm has plans for a work table that had a mechanism for lowering wheels when needed for movement and lifted out of the way when the table rested on the floor. It seems like it was about a year or so ago. I don't know about the weight factor for heavier equipment.

[Robert Mahon]

Thanks all.
I looked at the Woodcraft retractable casters and found they will not have enough motion to work properly on the workbench.
Since I removed Grizzly the casters I bought and went straight to the floor using the jacking screws that came with the kegs set, the bench is as rigid as I could hope for (meaning it doesn't move at all, regardless of what I do).
As I plan to move the bench rarely, I think I'll forgo the caster route until I see a real need.

Thanks again.