Mobile workbench

[Tiger]

Dear all,

I have a limited work area and I have added castors onto the bottom of my workbench's legs. When I plane etc. it wobbles and moves. My question is how can I retain portability yet still have a sturdy bench. I generally need to move it every week or so a little depending on what I'm doing. Is there a way to retain the castors or do I need to take them off. I have tried to lock them but that doesn't make much difference. The bench is quite heavy and is about 1500 by about 700.

[IanW]

Tiger - can you fit castors on one set of legs only, so that they only make floor contact when you lift the bench from the other end ? I saw this method in a mag. somewhere, many moons ago. The bloke wot done it had a pair of 4 x 2's for temporary handles to slip in from the other end, when the bench needed to be moved.
You could mount one set of castors on a hinged board, which can be dropped into place and locked with a dowel pin for moving.
You can pay through the nose for castors that can be lowered and locked into place when needed.
I've got castors on my saw and planer, and the locks are only barely adequate for them, so I can see how they'd be pretty useless under a bit of heavy hand-planing! I'm temporarily using my smaller "portable" bench in the carport, whilst waiting for my new shed to be ready, and just drag it about. Each time I have to do it, I think about fitting some castors (it seems to get heavier every year!), but have managed to avoid it on the grounds that my situation is only temporary! :rolleyes:

Cheers,

[RufflyRustic]

I wanted a workbench that I could move in and out from underneath my main workbench too. So when I built the bench, I added some wheels to two legs so that all I had to do was lift one side of the bench, roll it out and put it back down again. It's stable, doesn't move unless I want it too, but I did have to build it with weight in mind as I didn't want to hurt myself moving it all the time. It's now the handiest bench.

I attached the wheels to the legs by copying how the wheelie bins have their wheels attached.

Hope this helps, but maybe your bench is too heavy for this.

cheers
RufflyRustic

[Harry72]

Attach a piece of wood between castors(allowing for castor swing)thats about 10-20mm off the ground... then make up some wedges from hardwood 2 per end.
Sit the bench in place and put the wedges under the wood and give them a light kick to wedge them in place... she go no where!(could glue sand paper under wedges too)

[channa]

Couldn't resist including a picture of my workshop - ignore the dust - I'm in the middle of cleaning up. SWMBOs car goes in the middle, and the place must be spotless before closing time every day. To get my work bench in and out I purchased four plastic squares from Bunnies - they have a sticker and screw hole. They are designed to go on the bottom of the legs, and they slide relatively easily over the concrete floor, but leave the bench very stable. For even more stability you could use only two at one end (much like the castors). The problem with castors is that even when locked they still swivel. I'll post a photo of the legs if you want - just didn't have one at work :D

[Bodgy]

Tiger

I had same issue with the Triton WC, and adopted the method propounded by Ian and Ruffy. Only problem is that with only wheels at one end, you need a bit of room to manouever the thing, unlike the supermarket trolley which will go every which way, but not usually where you want.

I found the trick was to have the wheels a fair way away from the edge of the legs, thereby minimising the height you need to lift the other end to get the castors on the ground, and decreasing tthe force necessary on the lever principle.

I posted some pictures of the end result. Bodgy but it works like a bought one. No comments about my welds either thanks.

I'll try and find piccies if interested, by you can probably do it better. Homemade tools section or maybe Triton?. For yr bench I'd probably increase the distance from legs to wheel access to increase the lever advantage and lift height before touchdown.

[Harry72]

Jesus, thems some big ball bearings you got in the corner there Channa!

[Bodgy]

Tiger, found the piccy. No unkind comments please.

You'll see the principle.


http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/attachment.php?attachmentid=12284&stc=1&thumb=1 (http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/attachment.php?attachmentid=12284)

[knucklehead]

I like having wheels on all four corners and a bolt extending through the foot to the floor. Most of the time the bench is just on the wheels but when bench movement is a hassle, adjust the bolts down until they contact the floor. You normally only need to get a small amount of weight on to the bolts to stop any movements.

Sorry can't take a photo at the moment but the idea was based on Sandman heavy roller bases. The roller bases have this system on one end only. It is hard to see in the picture but they have a nice knob on top and a sleeve on the bottom so that they don't dig in to the floor.

[Bodgy]

Knuckclehead's system works too. I made a similar base for the bandsaw, cause tilting it to engage the wheels as previous post, seemed fraught with danger.

I find the problem is that I'm too lazy to crank up the 'struts' everytime I move it. Particularly as my concreting ain't #1 and the workshop floor is unlevel, meaning lots of buggering about to get all 4 struts in solid contact with floor.

[Harry72]

Thats where the wedges are good Bodgey... you dont even need to bend down just kick'em in when you move the bench and a small kick to the side and they dislodge. Then you get to play soccer with them too the new spot... could be fun even!

[Bodgy]

I'll give it a go Harry, I need to make a moving base for the tablesaw.

If anyone's wondering, the heavy tools are all mobile cause the sheds very small and I have laid a slab outside, where I prefer to work anyway.

Haven't yet sorted out the weather aspects tho.

[mat]

There are castors with both wheel and swivel locks.

www.richmondcastors.com.au

[channa]

Jesus, thems some big ball bearings you got in the corner there Channa!

You should see the slug gun they go in!

[Wizened of Oz]

As Mat said.
You need double locking castors. Get them from an industrial or automotive bearing supplier. Expect to pay about $20 each for 100kg capacity castors suitable for a workbench.

Kind regards
Brian

[Sprog]

Norm from New Yankke workshop made a work table with drop down castors. The table design was based on the large table that set designers use which need to be large and stable but easily moved.
I can not remember the details but it was a very simple idea.
Here is a link to the table plans but no details can be seen on the picture there.
Maybe someone else can remember how the castor mechanism was constructed.

http://www.newyankee.com/getproduct3.cgi?0207

[bitingmidge]

There was a suspiciously similarly sounding thread just over a year ago, which may provide some "fresh" thought.

http://www.woodworkforums.com/showthread.php?t=10724

If searching proves too hard, and in reality, unless one knows the exact key words it often does, don't forget to check out the "similar threads" box at the bottom of each page.

I've often been led a merry chase down there!

Cheers,

P
:D :D :D

[Tiger]

Thanks for the input boys. I have tried a few things but haven't got a completely satisfactory result yet. I tried to support the bench on bolts but still too much movement. The bench is too heavy for the castors and handle (wheelbarrow) approach. I tried the wedge under the bench but there was still movement when I hand planed. I have taken off the castors completely and now the bench rests on its legs. There is minimal movement and with some extra bracing, I should be able to have a rock solid bench but alas I have lost portability. I did go through your link Bitingmidge and the cam operated castors may be an option. Thanks again.

[Harry72]

I tried the wedge under the bench but there was still movement when I hand planed.
Did you wedge it with two wedges at boths ends?

[Tiger]

Harry,

I had 2 big wedges at both ends. It helped but there was still movement whenever I hand planed. I would say that maybe the bench wasn't as rigid as it could be, but I think I've fixed it now, only thing is I've now taken the castors off :( .

[channa]

What type of floor do you have? This is what I use - works well on the concrete surface in the garage. I hand plane on this without problems (apart from the fact that I still hate sharpening - will try the tile and sandpapers next though). As I said, I bought these from Bunning's - these are over a year old and still fine. It takes a bit of effort to move the bench as my bench is filled with sliding compound mitre saw, triton router, Makita router, circular saw, angle grinder, jig saw, power plane, orbital sander, 1/3 sheet sander, and 18V circular saw (hand tools are in the cupboard above the bench. :p) - maybe that's why it doesn't move when I'm hand planing - but it is much easier to move with these on than it was without them!

PS Please ignore the washing - just got the bench out for the photos - I'm not allowed to work while the washing is out!:eek:

[RufflyRustic]

Norm from New Yankke workshop made a work table with drop down castors. ....

I just may have the episode on video. It was a brilliant idea, the table as well and one I based my own big outdoor workbench on, with a few alterations due to the materials I had at the time without the wheels. Anyway, back to Norm's table.

The wheels were attached to a piece of plywood, the plywood was attached to the stay[?] by means of hinges.
He put two pieces of ply on the inside of the legs attached with hinges, that when pushed down, held the wheeled plywood down so the table would roll.
There was a string attached to the bottom of the two hold-down ply pieces that when pulled up, lifted the two hold-down pieces, allowing the wheeled ply to lift, which in turn, allowed the table to settle on its four legs.

Hope this makes sense.

cheers
RufflyRustic

[Greg Q]

I have made a few tables with plain castors at the rear and a solid beam crosswise instead of front castors. I set the front piece in far enough (like a kick panel) to allow my cheapo trolley jack to slide in. Plenty of mobility, and pretty stable when its off the jack.

Greg

[Sprog]

I just may have the episode on video.
He put two pieces of ply on the inside of the legs attached with hinges, that when pushed down, held the wheeled plywood down so the table would roll.
There was a string attached to the bottom of the two hold-down ply pieces that when pulled up, lifted the two hold-down pieces, allowing the wheeled ply to lift, which in turn, allowed the table to settle on its four legs.

Hope this makes sense.
cheers
RufflyRustic

That sounds like the one, simple idea but very effective.