Looking for advice / idea to use casters

[TheRic]

Wasn't sure where to post this, if in wrong section then could someone move it to correct area.

I purchased a bunch of Twin caster w/ plate, non locking for a good price on Ebay. See picture (not the ones I have but similar) below on what I'm talking about. They are brand new but were left in a shed for a couple of years. The Zinc plate is showing some rust. There are rated at 125 lbs (if I remember correctly, I know it was above 100 lbs), brand is Shepherd.

I'm looking for ideas on what to do with them. I have used a bunch making things mobile, mostly made dollies for stuff, got several things planned for some more but I'm sure I will have plenty left over (75+).

I thought about mounting a bunch of them on a board and making an infeed/outfeed/sidefeed/etc table. Anybody know if this would work / not work?!! Pros / Cons??

Thought about mounting a bunch under a heavy cabinet. Normally I would figure what the total loaded weight would be, add 25% - 50% and get 4 casters that can support that weight each. Would, lets say for discussion, 10 caster support something around 200 lbs?, 300 lbs?, 500 lbs? Thinking of lining the outside cabinet, or put a bunch staggered under the thing. Anybody have any pros/cons.

Anybody have other uses? Open for any and all suggestions!

Things that might help: My shop is my garage, concrete floor, smooth not totally flat. Large (30'X30') new patio that is concrete, not smooth, was stamped. Concrete driveway old and cratered. Basement/office is concrete, main floor is 90% carpet.

[LCHIEN]

the problem with a lot of castors is if the floor is hard, and the bottom of your unit stiff, then the load will only divide evenly if the both are perfectly flat.

[jonmulzer]

With tons of casters it would also be a pain to get them to turn at the same time when you try to go 90 or 180 degrees to the way you went last. They also tend to wander a bunch when moving it. Always tries to go 15-30 degrees away from where you are wanting it to.

As for the outfeed table, I have no idea if it would work or not, but if you have that many and some scrap wood you would not be out anything but some time if it did not work.

[LarryG]

I have a portable router workstand made from the leg assembly of a large-format pen plotter. It was originally equipped with casters of that type. They snagged on every speck of sawdust they encountered on my shop's floor. This was not entirely unexpected -- I took the leg assembly home with the idea of installing better casters, which I have now done -- but I was surprised at just how poorly the originals rolled.

Sorry to continue the negative trend but casters of that type aren't good for much except office chairs and the like. You might be able to use up some more for things like you've already done, but I don't think you'll find them satisfactory for anything that weighs very much, or that you want to roll around frequently.

[cabinetman]

Those casters are really designed for carpeted floors. Rubber casters work best on hard floors.

Jonmulzer is right, using multiples under a cabinet will make them compete with each other. You may experience the same problem with an in/out feed table. It's worth a try though.
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[LinuxRandal]

Those are the ones I see on Furniture like laptop carts, filing cabinet (aka plans cabinet), etc. I would use them for light duty shop cabinets (small one for under/by drill press, plans cabinets, etc).

[pelligrini]

My wife has used that type on some carts, stands she has pieced togeather. They're not good for hard surfaces, as others have said they will stop on a piece of sand.

I use them a lot for my computer towers. About every Antec case I buy gets those in place of the plastic feet.

[mschrank]

I used some similar ones to make small mobile platforms to place under large potted plants. Makes it easier to move them around on the deck and in the house for rearranging or cleaning underneath.

[TheRic]

Thanks everyone for your input. After it was mentioned that they would compete against each other, I had one of those duh moments. Don't know how many times I had trouble moving some with only 4 wheels.

I might try the outfeed table thing, but it got bumped down on my priority list.

Mike, already made several flower pot dollies, they work pretty good inside and out. Sure saves on the back.