Wheels with no brakes are not good

[donnie wood]

I've come across alot of casters to put on rolling shop tables, but none of them have brakes on them. Anybody have an idea (or drawing) of how to make some kind of a flop down brakes or flop down casters?

Thanks donnie

[Art Mulder]

Donnie, do you mean you have these castors and need a solution, or you just are considering buying them?

If you haven't bought them yet I wouldn't. A jury rig is, IMHO, usually not as good as the real thing. I bought some double-locking casters at Woodcraft (on sale) and I'm very pleased with them. Lee Valley also carries them, a bit pricey. So does stockroomsupply.com And there are no doubt other sources out there. Perhaps some other creekers will chime in with suggestions on good inexpensive sources for them.

[Jeffrey Makiel]

To be blunt, I don't lock the casters on most of my tools. They include the jointer, tablesaw, radial arm/miter stand and bandsaw.

I found the weight of these tools to be enough to keep them in place by themselves when I'm using them. I also use 'swiveling' type casters for all four casters instead of two fixed, two swivel. I found that by having all four swivel, I can navigate the machine easier in my small shop.

Just a thought...Jeff :)

[donnie wood]

I've already have the casters. My problem that I have small shop (20' x20' plus a 6' rockingchair porch across the front), I've also had two back surgerys so lifting and pulling have to held to minimum.
I've done alot of cabinetbuilding before my back let me down. Now I'm getting into turning because the projects are smaller and lighter.

[Matt Day]

I would highly suggest buying locking casters. I got a set of 4 swivel locking casters from Rockler for about $25 when they were on sale. Amazon has hundreds of locking casters.

There have been a couple of dangerous moments where I forgot to lock the casters on my table saw, and while I was feeding the stock through the whole saw moved. I couldn't imagine using a jointer withought locking down the base???

[Jim Chilenski]

Donnie,

A simple solution would be try what I have done for some of my rolling tools. Get a piece of steel rod, 1/8" or 3/16", about 12" long. Bend it into a 'U' shape with each leg just far enough apart to slip along each side of a caster and prevent it from moving. Then bend the legs close to the base of the 'U' so that it sticks up from the floor to make removal easier.

I have found that two of these "wheel locks" place at opposite corners are sufficient to prevent a mobile base from moving. They are cheap and easy to make and can be inserted through any hole in the tool or stand to keep them close at hand.

Jim

[Jim Chilenski]

Donnie,

A simple solution would be try what I have done for some of my rolling tools. Get a piece of steel rod, 1/8" or 3/16", about 12" long. Bend it into a 'U' shape with each leg just far enough apart to slip along each side of a caster and prevent it from moving. Then bend the legs close to the base of the 'U' so that it sticks up from the floor to make removal easier.

I have found that two of these "wheel locks" place at opposite corners are sufficient to prevent a mobile base from moving. They are cheap and easy to make and can be inserted through any hole in the tool or stand to keep them close at hand.

Jim

[Al Willits]

If you already have the casters, maybe just buy matching locking ones for the front two wheels, at least you'd save the cost of the back wheels.

I'd agree on the use all swivel casters, gets to be a pain trying to move a tool around in tight spaces with only 2 of the wheels being swivel type.

Al

[Laurie Brown]

I use locking casters I bought at Lowe's. They're not cheap ($15 each) but they do a good job. I have eight of them on my saw table, but I find I seldom need to lock them either, as my saw table is heavy enough not to move when I'm using it, but I can still push it around my shop easily when I need to, and I have back problems as well.

[Matt Meiser]

Jim, that sounds like a great idea. I got a table that I'm using for the base of a welding table/assembly table I'm building. I've been watching this thread with interest to see what people said as the table came with four heavy duty swivel casters without locks.

[Jim Chilenski]

Jim, that sounds like a great idea. I got a table that I'm using for the base of a welding table/assembly table I'm building. I've been watching this thread with interest to see what people said as the table came with four heavy duty swivel casters without locks.

Matt,

I can't take credit for the idea. It's what we use in our data center to prevent equipment from moving around on the raised flooring. Its amazing how easy it is to move a several hundred pound storage frame or tape silo if the casters aren't blocked. :D

Jim

[Al Willits]

fwiw I got the last couple of sets from Menards, they are cheap, (compared to woodcraft and..) but they work fine.
I bought the 4" wheels and use them on my Miter saw cabinet and the rolling plywood storage bin I made, also the Torison table has them.
Not sure of the wieght of the plywood bin, but its made out of mostly 2x6's and has maybe 4 3/4" sheets of plywood, 2 3/4" MDF and 4 or 5 1/4" sheets, plus assorted scraps and so far the wheels still work fine.....least wises up to the point I said they work fine, I'm sure they colapse the minute I touch them now.....

Al

[Jim Becker]

I swear by the double locking casters I have on my router table (and kitchen island) that I sourced from Lee Valley. Smooth rolling and they really do lock up tight. I don't know of any form of retrofit, so you'll likely need to replace what you have to get the feature...and I do recommend "double locking" so that you get both roll and swivel locking.

[glenn bradley]

The price range on similar casters is quite EXTREME, shop around and check the specs. Cheap locking casters that are cheep-o-made are worse than no caster at all. These are reasonable for the price; there are better for more but don't get talked into $15-$20 per caster as you will find some folks asking.

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_137255_137255

[Dan Oelke]

I recently purchased some double locking swivel castors from Hartville Tool. This was based on recommendations I saw here in an earlier thread. $7 for the 3" ones if I remember correctly.

While they seem very nice, I can't tell you how well they work as they haven't gotten under something yet. <sigh> - another thing on my todo list.....

[Chuck Hanger]

My roll around assembly/storage cabinet casters (double locking) are the red 4" with center hubs that are rated at 1100 lb. for the 4. I got mine from the Grizzly catalog. Don't remember the exact price, but was not that expensive and have worked great. I really like them.
Chuck

[Mike Sommer]

Colson casters makes these floor locks http://www.greatlakescaster.com/products.php?cat=34 which are nice
but very $$$

I have them on my router table.

[Greg Sznajdruk]

Norm built an assembly table with casters. He applied them to a board which was hinged. When he position the table he flipped the board assembly and the table sat on the floor with the casters up and away. Go to his website and look for assembly table.

Greg