HF Roller Ball Bearings

[Pappy]

Anyone tried these?

I am going to make some rolling laundry bins to go under a folding table in the laundry room. Each bin will have 2 compartments, probably no more than 40-50 pounds total each when full. Plan is to frame them with 1x2 Poplar around plastic lattice. The floor is now linoleum but soon to be replaced with 12" ceramic tie.

[cwsmith]

Pappy,

The problem with this kind of roller is that the load bearing is almost 'pinpoint', in that on any hard sphere the actual contact point with the floor is pretty darn small and if the flooring is at all soft, it will have a tendency to dent and with any weight, it will not roll very well. (Wheel-like casters are much better IMO.)

For example, a few years ago we bought a round table for the one end of our living room. Nicely designed, it is hardwood with a round glass at its center. There are four low cushioned triangular stools that fit underneath... those stools have these 1" rollers, four per stool. (I know them as "ball casters".) So, as part of the remodel of this old home, we had oak floors installed in the living room and dining room and with that done, the new furniture.

At a large family get together soon after, these little stools came in real handy (there were 20 of us) as extra seating, especially for the kids. But a day later when we were cleaning up, I notices that there were dents everywhere that these stools had been, and in some places where the occupant had decided to roll their stool, they left channels. That week those ball casters came off and I installed felt slides in their place!

So, if you have to use them, keep the load light as it will mark the linoleum, I'm sure. On tile, it may work okay, but I'd be concerned about rolling them across the seams, if under load.

Hope this helps,

CWS

[capncarl]

The steel roller ball bearing i see at H F will ruin your linoleum floor in no time and will destroy ceramic tiles. Use caster wheeels. Tractor Supply has a great supply of caster wheels

[Pappy]

Pretty much the same concerns you both brought up. Not worried about the linoleum but concerned about rolling over the seams in the floor once the tile is in. The advantage would have been the ability to roll the bins straight in and out without the 'wiggle' room needed for casters to change direction. Back to the drawing board.

[leehljp]

Where I have seen these work effectively is by using 4 rows of 4 to 5 in each row. Load sharing over 16 to 20 and this will also prevent one set getting caught in the tile seams. But the cost runs up doing this.

I made a basket for a closet for my mom some years ago somewhat like the rollers on this one. I don't know what happened to it or who got it, but it was close to the floor. I don't remember where I got the wheels for it either. That was 20 years ago.

[capncarl]

This is what a concrete floor with epoxy paint looks like when you put too much weight on a hard plastic caster. It cuts down into the concrete!

[capncarl]

You could use 4 conveyor roller bearings and pvc pipe to create 2 rollers the width of your bins and it wouldnt dig up the floor and would track straight.