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  1. #1
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    Default base cabinet on wheels for assembly table - is my plan ok (sketch)

    Hello!

    I've never built a base cabinet before, and after a bunch of youtube and some futzing around with my plan, this is what I have.
    I think it'll work fine, just wanna hear any gotchas from people with more experience.

    Screen Shot 2021-01-24 at 3.42.43 pm.jpg

    18mm ply constructution all round.
    Left-hand side has a bank of drawers. The main part of the cabinet is a cupboard with adjustable shelves and doors on overlay hinges. (Doors are hidden from sketch so you can see)
    There's a dado for the divider between drawers and cabinet. I could nix this and just do pocket screws all round, just thought the dado would be good for initial alignment and clamping up square.
    This is going to be on adjustable levelling wheels, so that it can be moved around, and the locked-up and levelled when need.
    The top is a torsion box that I've already built.
    Overall dimensions are approx 1800x900x900

    What have I missed?

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  3. #2
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    Default

    At 1.8m i would consider another set of castors in the middle to avoid any sagging

  4. #3
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    Yeah good call. I think I'm also going to split it into two assemblies and join together after. It'll be a more straight glue-up that way. I'll do it by splitting the base into two pieces with the vertical divider rabbeted on both sides, so it slots between the base pieces.

  5. #4
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    Given the size and the ultimate weight of your cabinet, make sure that the diameter of your castor wheels is large enough!

    All the cabinets in my small workshop, which are all much smaller than what you propose, are on castors, either 50 or 75mm in diameter. I have found that the cabinets with the smaller diameter ones get sometimes "stuck" when one of the wheels hits a small bit of wood lying on the floor. The piece doesn't have to be that big, 2mm thick or so is enough. I have found that the 75mm diameter wheels don't seem to be affected as much.

    I am in the process of building a mobile rack to house 12 plastic crates of roughly similar dimensions to a milk crate. 2 crates side by side, 6 high. The total weight will be quite substantial and I intend to use 100-120mm diameter castors and hope to avoid the problem.

    My 2c worth. All the best with your build!

    Cheers
    Yvan

  6. #5
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    I agree with Yvan, when it comes to caster wheels under heavy things and especially if there is "stuff" on the floor that may impede rolling, bigger is definitely better. If you need to fit 3 sets, and I think you might judging by the size of the cabinet, fit the front casters with locking wheels. Brakes are handy.

  7. #6
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    Thanks all. See pic.

    20210126_192433.jpg

    I got a minute over the long weekend, and I'm nearly done with this build. I'm def gonna get another 2 casters for this, to put in the middle.
    The casters I have for it are fairly chunky (you can see them in the pic). Wheels are 63mm (2.5 inch) diameter, with wider than normal 30mm tread. They're hard nylon though, which will probably catch on stuff more than regular PU or rubber casters. I think these are the right choice though, because I can level the table and get about 15mm total height adjustment. This will be really handy for flushing up the assembly table next to table saw and at same height as table saw outfeed extension.

    I think I'll put the 5th and 6th wheels under where the two boxes join (not exactly in centre). I'm slightly concerned about the strength of that join. The central divider has 2 x 6mm rabbets, leaving a 6mm tongue that is glued up between the bottom and back pieces of the two cabinets. This joint will definitely benefit from having support under it. I might even reinforce with some 3mm metal bracing plates underneath.

    One q: would you put the extra casters under the join, or in the centre? I suspect the positioning doesn't matter much.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  8. #7
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    Default

    My first look at this thread, and probably a bit late but here goes.

    I would not dado or rebate the base for the uprights, just glue and screw from below via pre drilled holes. Dado and rebates don't do much for you in this situation other than reduce the rigidity of the base by reducing its thickness where weight will be transferred through it. The situation is different where the panel being dadoed or rebated is vertical and you are trying to transfer weight from shelves into it, though even for stressed skin panels like melamine coated stuff and some plywoods, cutting into the skin weakens it.

    I would either build as a single piece or if you had a pressing need to split it into 2 pieces, make it as two fully self contained cabinets with the central upright duplicated in each cabinet, rather than trying to make with a single divider situated over a joint in the base, reason being that a single 18mm divider over that joint means that the fixing screws are not going to be centered in the divider and far enough from the edge of the base sections.

    If you have proceeded as described in your earlier posts, I would be inclined to screw and glue another full base sheet under the unit to stiffen up and supply additional rigidity to the base, or failing that, at least a skeleton frame around the base that the castors are fixed to. That way the castors can be evenly spaced and rigidity is not compromised by the joint in the base, dado's or rebates. The type of ply used would influence the holding power of the castor fixings, and a hardwood skeleton frame would improve the screw holding power significantly over basic plywood. I suspect that you find you need a very smooth floor to roll the finished unit on, even before you start loading the cabinet, I would not have gone for anything smaller than 125 mm casters myself. Adjustable height castors are not really essential, as it is possible to use adjustable feet for levelling when in a fixed position, then slightly retract them to lower onto the castors for moving the unit. If the unit is intended to be mobile within your shop, it would need relevelling after every move anyway, as the floor would most likely not truly level throughout the shop.
    I used to be an engineer, I'm not an engineer any more, but on the really good days I can remember when I was.

  9. #8
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    Some good suggestions there. Thanks Malb.

    Yep, if I were to do it again, I would just do two seperate boxes and screw them together afterward. As it turns out, the rebate didn't help as much as I thought with alignment/glue up, and the end result is probably a bit weak. I did manage to screw in the back panel along the rebate, which helps a lot. The cabinet is pretty rigid and square, and not too heavy, which is great. I do have a bit of height to work with, so I think I will put a hardwood frame underneath.

    I guess like a face frame type construction with a few ribs and wheels attached to that. I can probably get about 19mm boards under there, without affecting the total height too much.

    Good suggestion!

  10. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by malb View Post
    . . . . . .If you have proceeded as described in your earlier posts, I would be inclined to screw and glue another full base sheet under the unit to stiffen up and supply additional rigidity to the base, or failing that, at least a skeleton frame around the base that the castors are fixed to..
    I can just see the castors snapping of at the base at the first thing they hit so I also would have started with a base frame, probably using 50 x 75 SHS and welded nuts to the frame for the castors. If doing it in timber I would have used 50 x 100 hardwood. But then again, I always over engineer things

  11. #10
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    I know it's large dimensionally, but it's not designed to take a great deal of weight or be used for heavy workbench-like operations. It's for assembly, clamping/glue-up, and table saw outfeed.
    The torsion box is fairly heavy, but not too bad. I'm going to put a sheet of ply with dovetail clamping tracks (Microjig)on the top, with a hardwood trim encasing it. The drawers have some heavier stuff, but that part of the cabinet is small and rigid. The cupboard space is mostly going to be handheld power tool storage and associated accessories - so, not that heavy.

    Metal frame, I think, is overkill. And besides, I don't have welding equipment.

    I'll do a measure up later and see what the max height I can afford for a base frame. If I get lucky, it'll be 32, but anything more would mean the top of the table will be higher than TS height, which is obviously no good. This assembly table will mostly stay in position against a wall. But I will occasionally want to pull it out when using TS on bigger projects. The TS already has a fold-down out feed table that works great for ripping large stock, and crosscutting things that aren't too big.

    I'm also going to build a small and sturdy solid hardwood workbench for hand stuff, or heavier duty operations e.g. banging stuff!

    That's the long way of saying 'she'll be right'.

  12. #11
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    It's not really about the cabinet weight as such - even a light table once its moving has a certain amount of momentum and if a castor bolted to just ply was to strike something firm , even the edge of a small board they could be in danger. A 32mm hardwood base would definitely be better.

    A steel base doesn't have to be welded (that's just how I would have done it) - even just two 1.8m long, 25x50x3mm mm lengths of SHS bolted underneath the cabinet in multiple places along the full length of cabinet would add strength and provide something meaty for the castors to attach to. If there was no need for support and it was just about the wheels some large metal plates washers could be used, could even be Al.The annoying thing about using steel is that it usually needs to be treated to stop long term rust

  13. #12
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    Now you got me thinking.

    If I reinforce the bottom with some SHS, I won't need another 2 castors, because this will add enough support to the base under the divider.

    Unfortunately, I don't have enough clearance to mount the wheels to the RHS. I only have about 10mm to play with, and even then, not really, because need total 15mm up/down travel for the levelling adjustment on wheels.

    These castors are on 75×75x5mm base plates. Pretty sturdy. The ply is the weak point, but I can reinforce it with some hardwood mounting blocks inside the cabinet, and use some 6mm coach screws to attach.

  14. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by rogerwilco View Post
    Now you got me thinking.

    If I reinforce the bottom with some SHS, I won't need another 2 castors, because this will add enough support to the base under the divider.

    Unfortunately, I don't have enough clearance to mount the wheels to the RHS. I only have about 10mm to play with, and even then, not really, because need total 15mm up/down travel for the levelling adjustment on wheels.

    These castors are on 75×75x5mm base plates. Pretty sturdy. The ply is the weak point, but I can reinforce it with some hardwood mounting blocks inside the cabinet, and use some 6mm coach screws to attach.
    Those base plates sound good especially if you reinforce them as per your method.

    Any steel or hardwood length reinforcement can also be added inside the cabinet. It also can be attached independently of the castors ie like a couple internal ribs.

  15. #14
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    Yep, exactly. I'm thinking two lengths, underneath the cabinet, probably in KDHW as I have a couple 90x45s I can rip down to a good size.

    Casters mounted independently, and may as well use the same KDHW to take the coach screws.

    Casters give 100mm clearance under cab, which gives space for supports and is also perfect for foot clearance.

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