Wheels for the Workcentre 2000

[Knurl]

I removed the Triton wheels from my workcentre because I found myself constantly lifting the table and pulling it over the door-track of my sched.

With my bad back it was too hard going so I looked for a better way. At the Northern Beaches Triton club I saw some great ideas with cams etc that lift the legs off the floor but most of the solutions I saw sacrifice the foldability of the table.

I decided to fit lockable castors that I sourced from Bunnies. The mounting brackets were found in the same aisle and are solid steel angle brackets pre-drilled with holes in all the wrong places. Mind you this is not the cheapest solution but it was easy to make and provided 5 critical (for me) features:
1. The table is very easy to move, even over a door-track.
2. The working height is not much higher than originally.
3. The table folds up.
4. The table locks rock-solid when in working mode.
5. My shins and toes don't get in the way of these wheels.

As you can see from the photos, I marked the lines where I wanted to cut the bracket with the angle grinder. I smoothed the sharp edges on the bench grinder and drilled the holes in the other face to match the holes in the castor bracket. The angles are critical because the legs of the WC2K slope out in two directions. Notice that the two slots are cut to accommodate the lower leg-bolt. At least these two holes are spot-on.

The holes for the castor bracket were drilled in the DP to match the 1 inch bolts (16 off).

[jmk89]

Thanks for this, Knurl. It looks like a very practical solution to a very real problem. I think that I shall do something similar shortly.

[Sprog]

I used two sets of Triton wheels on my WC and made a small ramp for the door track :D

Works for me :D

[Knurl]

I had considered that Sprog, but I found the two wheels on the front were just a bit too flimsy and very difficult when I wanted to change direction in a restricted space.

My biggest gripe with the Triton wheels are those darn locking levers. They are so difficult to engage and when you loosen them they fall off the "lock" on the smallest bump. ALSO, I'd like a dollar for every time I've snagged my ankle on one, when moving around the bench.

I also didn't fancy bending down every time to place or remove my "bridge".

[Stuart]

ALSO, I'd like a dollar for every time I've snagged my ankle on one, when moving around the bench.


Fair enough about the mod. My only question is how you have been snagging yourself on the lever. If you had the wheels mounted so the level was on the inside of the leg rather than the outside, I can't see how you would be having a problem. Did you have the wheels swapped over?

[Knurl]

I'm not abslutely sure Stuart but I may have had them around the wrong way, I just can't remember any more. In any case the metal tab protrudes beyond the front of the wheel. Surely an "inside" job would only be marginally safer for the ankles.

I recall that it was a tricky business of pushing the wheel forward with the toe of my shoe until the tab engaged. I can only imagine that it would have been more tricky to do that if the wheels had been reversed with the tabs on the inside.

Just a comment about Triton design, here. As I recall, the height of the engaged locking tab, when it is in moving-mode was positioned just over the height of the leather part of my shoe in line with the ankle joint. Correct me if I'm wrong...and I'm often wrong.

The castors have been a godsend.

[Stuart]

Not saying you are wrong at all - just have never experienced that problem, and my shed is very tight - if there is anything that you can potentially snag on, I have found it!

[SilentButDeadly]

Great mod Dave. I've got the Triton wheels and to be honest they are a bit of a pain. The thing just isn't that manouverable with them on anyway. My 150kg thicknesser is easier to move around. So I've been thinking about ditching the Triton wheels and you mod might just see that happening much much sooner.

[Knurl]

I thought you might like a "post-implementation" report, now that my WC wheels have been in service for a 6 weeks.

a. I don't bump my feet as often.
b. It doesn't swivel as easily as I'd like. Lock washers are absolutely essential on the bolts - when they get loose, the angles change and the castors don't spin freely.
c. The castor locking tabs are my main problem in that that they hang down too close to the floor and sometimes the ON lever snags the lip of the door track in my shed and ....you guessed it... while I'm pulling the WC2K out of the shed it locks-on tight and I'm stuck.

It's not my best design idea but better than the Triton wheels.