installing casters

[Anna]

Anna,

Can't help but confuse you more.

These are from Rockler, and if you can match up the diameter and threads from your existing casters, they should work a charm.

Funny. That was what I was looking for originally, but I thought there are no sleeves for these things. How does one figure out what the thread count is on screws? Is it just a matter of counting the number of threads per inch or is that a misnomer in the same way that a 1"x2" is really 0.75"x1.5"?

Thanks for pointing this out. Just searching the rockler site for screw on t-nuts or teenuts don't even show this page when I tried. I had to type in the item number.

[mpc]

Anna -

Machinists haven't "cheated" on dimensions like you see on dimensional lumber. So counting the teeth per inch should work just fine. A fairly easy way to know for sure though: bring either the wheel or the nut to a hardware store - Home Depot, Lowes, Ace, etc. In the screws/bolts/nuts isle there is usually some sort of display plate with numerous threaded rods and sample "nuts" to fit your mystery nut/screw onto. The sizes are printed on the display plate.

The Rockler screw-mounted teenuts look interesting; I hadn't seen these before myself: http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=1641
Off hand though it looks like they're too small in diameter; if I remember correctly the mounting stud for my casters (also from Rockler, the one in the city of Orange) were at least half an inch in diameter. Those screw-mounted look a lot stronger than the usual teenuts with little teeth poking into the wood.

Your idea of using a large hole in a second 1/2 inch thick sheet of ply to surround/cover the nut & stud portion makes perfect sense to me. Had I had a large Forstner bit at the time I would have done that too; that would give me a little more vertical clearance between the bottom shelf of the cabinet and the next shelf up. Maybe 1/4 to 1/2 inch... possible retrofit job now that I do have the right bits...

mpc

[Bruce Cohen]

MPC beat me to it, or if you're really allergic to HD, Lee Valley sells a Screw Checker, which of course I just had to buy (impoverished tool junkie)




The way screw measurements are stated; the diameter is first, followed by the threads per inch (tpi)



A better view




Hope this isn't more info than you wanted

Bruce

[Anna]

MPC, thanks for the info. I agree that the t-nuts are probably too small. I also counted the number of turns in the screw, and I got 12 per inch. It looks like something I can probably use later, though. And it does look nifty.

I'll try the other idea instead (with the plywood over the case bottom ply). I like Tom's suggestion of using fender washers, too. I just hope the whole assembly will be structurally stable.

Hope this isn't more info than you wanted

The more info, the better. Except for my husband. He's been cursing the day I found BT3central. Our credit card bills show mostly Home Depot, Amazon, and WoodCraft charges now. We went a-hunting for Herc-u-lifts in Sacramento yesterday, and he wanted to know where have I heard of these things. I told him it was posted by someone at BT3. After we found two, though, and he figured out what they're for and how much they were originally, he's convinced I got a good deal. So maybe I'll make a convert of him after all.

Anyway, that screw size determining widget looks pretty nice and convenient. Will check WoodCraft and see if they have it.

Thanks again.