drop-in T track hardware?

[sean oloughlin]

Hi,

I've got a project where wheels will be occasionally attached to a cabinet to help it move. There will be t-track installed near where the wheels will go, so I'd like to use it to attach the wheels, but want them to be able to detach easily. Does anyone know of hardware that drops into t-track, then turns 90 degrees to lock?

Thanks in advance

Sean

[Jerry Miner]

There are cam levers for T-track. More information would help. Can you post a sketch or something?
376760

[sean oloughlin]

Thanks Jerry,A cam would likely be the best solution, though the one in the pic you linked to would need to be modified to be able to drop into the slot from the top. I suppose the round bottom could be ground to a T shape, but I wonder if the aluminum track would be strong enough if the surface area were reduced too much. I’m thinking of putting loc-tite on the barrel of the cam lever. The handle would then be rotated to insert/lock the wheel to the track, then the lever would be raised or lowered to tighten it. I noticed that some t-track hardware uses round bolts like the one in your picture, but others used T shaped bottoms. Any idea why if they all need to be inserted from the end of the track anyways? I’ll include a simple sketch of my proposed quick removable wheel solution. Basically the stand will be 7 feet high, and I’d like to attach the wheels to move it once per week. On the upper part of the track (not shown) would be a support base that slides down to balance the structure when needed. When being moved the base would be slide upwards and the wheels would be attached (ideally to the t-track)

[Grant Wilkinson]

If I understand your pic, the T tracks are vertical on a leg of the cart, yes?

I've used T-bolts like these in a similar applicatioin. http://www.leevalley.com/en/Hardware/page.aspx?p=65639&cat=3,43576,61995&ap=1

I ground down the sides of the bolt head so that it would fit into the track without feeding it in from the end of the track. I ground down the ends of the "wings" on the bolt head so that the bolt could turn in the track. Turning the bolt about 1/4 turn before tightening the jig itself (my application was a jig) caused the "wings" of the bolt head to catch on the track sides. It holds very well. I don't have the weight issue that you may have, so this may not work for you.

[sean oloughlin]

Thanks Grant,

That’s exactly what I was looking for, I guess I’ll just need to get out the grinder and make my own hardware. My stand may be too heavy for the desired apication, but I’ll give it a try to find out.

Sean

[Grant Wilkinson]

You're welcome, Sean. To take the weight, you could either put a screw through the track into the leg, using it as stop for the T-bolt/block holding the wheel, or put the track into a stopped dado, with the top end of the track being the height where you want the leg block to stop. That way, the track and T-bolt aren't supporting the weight. The are just holding the wheel in place fore and aft.

Oh, by the way, another application for these T-bolts is holding down toilet bowls, so you can find them easily at big box stores in the plumbing section.

[sean oloughlin]

Good advice. Unfortunately I won’t be able to use you your stopped dado idea since when the wheels are in use there will be another part of the stand in the t track above it. I may be able to reduce the clamping force needed by backing the block with some sort of foam/rubber mat between it and the stand. I’ll let you know how it goes.

[Greg Hines, MD]

Just an observation, but it looks difficult to do what you plan to do. I presume you will lift the end of bench/cabinet up onto some kind of blocking before you insert these wheels? Otherwise, it looks difficult to be able to put them in on a consistent basis by holding it up.

Doc