Seriously...

[Jason Hanko]

Do they really not make threaded inserts with a 1/2'' ID thread? I've looked everywhere and the largest I can find is 3/8''.....
I picked up a set of 4 - 4'' locking castors for $1 on CL. The only downside was that they're stem-mount. 'No big deal' I think, 'I'll just pick up some theaded inserts with a 1/2'' thread'.
Yeah...about that... :mad:
The only thing Ive been able to find that would work is a set of Tnuts (http://www.castercity.com/eshop/10Expand.asp?ProductCode=TN-1213&ReturnTo=../T-Nuts.htm) - but I almost can't pay $14 for 4 Tnuts just on principal...
At least the castors were cheap.
I guess I can drill a 7/16'' hole in the wood and thread it into that?

[Dewey Torres]

Jason,
What is stopping you from inserting the threaded stem through a hole and attaching a standard nut on the opposing side???

[Charles Murphy]

According to this (http://www.ezlok.com/InsertsWood/hardWood.html) it looks like 3/8" ID is as big as they go.

[Tom Esh]

That's indeed a ridiculous price. McMaster-Carr has them for much less. Pretty fast delivery too. http://www.mcmaster.com/

[Jamie Buxton]

Threaded inserts are good things if you're planning on screwing and unscrewing a machine screw a lot. The machine screw threads don't wear. However, if you're going to screw something in just a few times, tapping the hardwood works very well indeed. It does help if the hole axis is going cross-grain, rather than with the grain. However, that is true of the brass inserts too.

[Jason Hanko]

Jason,
What is stopping you from inserting the threaded stem through a hole and attaching a standard nut on the opposing side???

Im going into the end grain of a leg... the caster stems aren't NEARLY that long.:D


That's indeed a ridiculous price. McMaster-Carr has them for much less. Pretty fast delivery too. http://www.mcmaster.com/
Wow - theyve got a lot of stuff! They even have 1/2'' ID threaded inserts! (part #90240A004). But Im going to have to talk myself into them @ $3.86 each... The T-nuts you mentioned are indeed cheaper...hmmm.

[Dewey Torres]

Just drill a hole into the leg same or one tick bigger than the threaded stem and use draw bolt hardware to attach.

If I were Buxton I would make a slick sketchup pic for you but research draw bolt on the net for counter tops and you will see that all you need is a hole and a mortise to attach a 1/2" square nut. It will be a challenge to align but once you get r' threaded it will be a done deal. Make the mortise about 3/4 the length of the threaded stem from the bottom of the leg.

Also if you can a square mortise is better

Does that make sense?

[Dewey Torres]

While I am not as good as Jamie at SU, here is a crude attempt to better explain the square mortise:

Dog-gon push pull tool:mad:

[Mike Henderson]

I don't know if your leg is big enough to do this, but what I've done in the past is drill a hole big enough for a nut (I drill it a bit small and trim it to fit the hex shape of the nut), then epoxy the nut into the hole. You only have to drill for the thickness of the nut, then you can drill a narrow hole big enough for the "bolt" so the bolt has a place to go as you thread it in.

Sort of a home made insert.

Mike

[dave rollins]

Jason
What I have done in the past is drill a hole in the leg and tap in a rod coupling nut for threaded rod. Just experiment as to how big to drill the hole so you don't split the wood and drill it the same depth as the nut is long (for 1/2" they will be somewhere in the 1 1/2" to 2" long). Easy to get hold of and fairly cheap.

Hope this helps

Dave

[Derek Stevens]

weld a nut over a hole on a plate that has the ability to be lagged either on the bottom of the leg, or on a end cap base. cheap and dirty. for pretty, follow the instruction above, or cast off the buck you spent and get some different wheels.

[Jim Becker]

But Im going to have to talk myself into them @ $3.86 each...

Consider the function you want to provide. Will the threaded inserts provide more support for your casters than the tee-nuts? As to the price, these are specialty items. That $3.86 might even be an incredibly good price taking that into consideration, especially since you likely purchased your casters at far below market cost for similar products new. It's all relative... ;)

[Phil Thien]

If you're going into legs, I'd use a t-nut as a cross-dowel. I used t-nuts as cross-dowels on my bench and it works great. I even got paid some money about 10 years ago by one of the magazines for the tip.

[Gene Howe]

I don't know if your leg is big enough to do this, but what I've done in the past is drill a hole big enough for a nut (I drill it a bit small and trim it to fit the hex shape of the nut), then epoxy the nut into the hole. You only have to drill for the thickness of the nut, then you can drill a narrow hole big enough for the "bolt" so the bolt has a place to go as you thread it in.

Sort of a home made insert.

Mike

I'm with you, Mike. I don't like threaded inserts in end grain AT ALL! :mad:
Buddy of mine does inserts in endgrain by drilling a slightly over sized hole, partially filling it with epoxy and inserting the threaded insert with a bolt in it to protect the interior threads. He claims it works well. I think it's a PITA. Just my humble opinion.

[Steven DeMars]

Jason
What I have done in the past is drill a hole in the leg and tap in a rod coupling nut for threaded rod. Just experiment as to how big to drill the hole so you don't split the wood and drill it the same depth as the nut is long (for 1/2" they will be somewhere in the 1 1/2" to 2" long). Easy to get hold of and fairly cheap.

Hope this helps

Dave

Works very well . . . .
Steve

[Alan Schwabacher]

The Tage Frid approach is to drill a hole down the center of a short dowel, and insert the T-nut. Now drill a dowel-sized hole in the end of the leg, and add a narrower but longer bolt clearance hole if needed. Now glue the dowel into the leg, making sure to allow the glue to dry while it is right side up to keep glue out of the threads. This approach was designed for knockdown furniture assembly, rather than leg casters, but it should work.

But this and most of the other elaborate schemes are designed to resist force that would pull out the bolt rather than push it in. For a caster, a T-nut set into the end of the leg should work fine. If you don't like the look, Frid's approach will hide it, or install the T-nut into the leg in a shallow counterbore in the end of the leg, then glue in a drilled dowel to cover it. This is different only in the direction and attachment of the T-nut.

[pat warner]

Kick a locked caster unwittingly and all the force goes into pulling your insert out of its socket. Don't expect a long life from tee nuts etc.
Your stud should go through a mending plate (http://patwarner.com/images/stand_corner.jpg)of some sort.
Steel x-dowels equally good.

[Peter Quinn]

I bought some steel, 1/4" X 3 1/2" X 3 1/2" squares cut from scrap from a local welder. Drilled four 1/4" holes near the corners, tapped the center for a 1/2" # 13 bolt, drilled a slightly over sized hole into the end of my legs (4X4), bolted the plates on and put in machine leveling feet to level a bench. Cost me very little per leg, WAY tougher than any t-nut I've seen. Same idea should work for casters. I've also had a welder do the same thing except using threaded rod connectors welded into the center for higher stress connections, probably big time over kill but it sure is stable.

My local tractor supply sells bits-o-steel that wood work cheep too. If you have a hack saw or a sawzall (or a steel cutting band saw) you can make your own way cheeper than you can buy them.