??? Casters on a Portable Clamp Rack

[Steve Mellott]

I'm getting ready to build a portable clamp rack. What type of casters should I use? Rigid, swivel or a combination of the two? Locking or non-locking? Size? Any recommendations as to where to purchase them? Thanks very much for your help.

[CPeter James]

On mine, I have 3" all swivel. I would use ones that will carry the weight easily over your floor surface. I am going to go to a larger size due to the weight of my rack and my wooden floor. I plan to use cast ion wheels this time.

CPeter

[Bruce Wrenn]

I use the three inch ones for Northern Tool on my clamp cart. They are the hard plastic ones. Make sure all swivel and DON'T lock. My cart has about thirty Bessies, along with a bunch of other clamps and accessories. My clamp cart is a NYW version.

[Alan Schaffter]

My rolling clamp stand holds over 50 Besseys and rolls nicely (pics on the other computer). I used 4 swivels from Hartville tool (http://www.hartvilletool.com/product/11882). Great price, superb casters. I didn't use locking ones (they have those too).

http://www.hartvilletool.com/shared/images/products//medium/36984.JPEG

[Rod Peterson]

The bigger the wheel the easier it is to roll over detritus on your floor. Clamp racks are not only heavy, but they tend to be top heavy, and you want the lowest rolling (and starting) resistance you can get. I would consider 5" to be the minimum diameter.

Swivel all four corners. It's not a power tool base so it doesn't need to lock, and you'll want to turn it frequently to access that clamp that's always on the other side.

I happen to have some of the black rubber wheels on my casters. I don't know that there's a particular advantage of one over another. I thought I read a discussion on that recently and I also think I remember that the orange-ish/red composition wheels were best. Since the material didn't stick in my head it makes me wonder just how significant the difference was. I'd say use what's convenient or at hand.

[jonathan snyder]

I used 4 swivels from Hartville tool (http://www.hartvilletool.com/product/11882). Great price, superb casters. I didn't use locking ones (they have those too).

I also have a couple of sets of the locking casters from Hartville. They are great. They lock solidly, swivel freely, and roll nicely.

Jonathan

[Lori Kleinberg]

I also used the Hartville casters. I used the 3" swivel type, 2 are locking casters.

[Matt Meiser]

All swivel so you can turn it around in place. I don't have any locking ones and it hasn't been a problem. If they did lock, I probably wouldn't do it anyway. If your floors slope you might need them? The casters I've been using for mobilizing many of the things I've made come from Harbor Freight. They have a 4" swivel caster that goes on sale for about $5 or $6. The wheel is cast with a solid rubber tire. They work quite well.

[Keith Beck]

The bigger the wheel the easier it is to roll over detritus on your floor.

You know it's going to be a good day when you not only get suggestions on where to get some good casters, but you also get to see "detritus" used in a sentence! :D

Keith