Shop Vac Wheels

[Matthew Poeller]

So, one of the wheels broke on my shop vac. Very annoying since it left a nice scratch in my newly refinished hardwood floors before I noticed the problem.

The shop vac is of craftsman descent. I stopped at Sears and the only casters that they offered were these junky little dual wheel casters that are about 2" in diameter. I purchased them because I needed wheels since the vac is constantly in use. This leads me to my question though.

Does anyone know a source for shop vac casters that are of higher quality? I am thinking of ones that are more of a soft caster, something like roller blade wheels.

I checked McMaster and Rockler and they only have the crappy wheels too.

Any ideas other than making a new base for the vac to roll around on?

[Jamie Buxton]

You can buy casters which use skate wheels. For instance, look at model 150 here: http://www.coolcasters.com/index.cfm

[Matthew Poeller]

That is a neat place. The only thing that I did not see was a caster post that seemed to match the hole that I have to go into.

I may end up have to make a new base for the shop vac.

[Alfred Clem]

My Ridgid shop vac's wheels gave out. Cheap plastic things.

So I took some 2x4 lumber and lap-jointed it at 90 degrees so that the shop vac was held securely. Glued and nailed the corners. Then I drilled some holes at the corners and installed some big old casters I bought at a garage sale. I think they had been used to hold up kids' toys. Anyway, it was my way of recycling. Cheap, works fine, no problems. Been using this set-up about five years.