Thread: castors on router table

Being very short on shed space (I can't buy any more toys until I get a bigger shed) EVERYTHING in my shop is on wheels.

I use a Jet JWS-34L spindle moulder http://www.gregmach.com/equipment_ca...jet_jws34l.htm as my table router ... equipped with a Jet mobile base.

This works well for me because:

1) Dust accumulates under the spindle moulder. I can wheel it away from the work area and simply vacuum or sweep up the dust.

2) If I am not using it as a router table I can use the large cast iron top as a work table - just wheel it over to where I am working. Even clamp a piece of MDF on top of it for a larger table area. For example, right now it has on top of it 12 shadow boxes that I am finishing up (no more routing required for a while) that I glued up yesterday awaiting final sanding and finishing.

but most importantly ...

3) Without wheels it is too heavy and too awkward to move, therefore the shed space it would take up even when not in use has to include about 3ft left and right to allow reasonable length of work pieces, plus (say) 2 feet behind for dust extraction.

The Jet "universal" mobile bases clip together (without tools) - they cost about $100 or so, and carry about 250kg. The heaviest item I have on a mobile base is my Powermatic 8" jointer which weighs about 200kg.

Qw

I have a Triton router table and stand and because it is fairly light I find it easy to drag about but does not move when using it because of the splayed legs.

If you have a heavy one made out of say MDF it would be more difficult to move it about. If you where to put it on locking casters, they would want to be high quality ones because the last thing you want it to do is move when you are pushing a long length timber through.

I have a home made router table which is fairly hefty and so I fitted it with 2 wheels at the back and feet at the front. By lifting the front, which is now only half the weight, I can move the thing anywhere and the two front feet hold it steady while it's in use. No need for swivel castors, the fixed wheels were about a dollar each from the local "fell off the back of a truck" shop.
Cheers,
Graeme

I use a variation of Graeme’s method on all my benches.

But they rest on all four legs when stationary.

I project the rear castors a few inches behind the unit so that they only take weight when the front is lifted, or under one end with removable (fixed height)wedges under those two legs when stationary and extendable handles the other end to allow movement wheelbarrow fashion.

I have the Carbatec Cat CWB-2 castors with brake on a Carbatec Cat MS-R router table and they are very good. I find I only need to lock the front two castors when using the router. I also have the same set of castors on a bandsaw, combination planer/thicknesser, Delta lathe and a couple of other items. They have been in use for quite a while now and have not failed.
A set is about $80 now.

I had a look at this and posted something similar to yours some months ago. The options with pros and cons were:

1. Wheelbarrow method as per graeme and Chas. The main drawback with the wheelbarrow method is that you do need some space to manouver the item if it essential to get it is a certain spot or if your workshop is very tight. Otherwise one of the best methods due to its simplicity and low cost.

2. Lockable castors - very expensive and are never quite stable. You can save some money by making only the front castors lockable. The advantage over the wheelbarrow method is it is easier to manouver the item. You can make it more rigid by connecting it something else that is rigid like a workbench or a wall etc.

3. Lowerable/raiseable wheels. This give you the flexibility of wheels to move the item and then four rigid legs when in use. There are a number of options here. Chas's method of using wedges is the simplest but annoying if you do a lot of moving. Some of the commercial mobile bases have the faclity to lower the wheels. Barry White sent me a plan for a mobile base that allws the wheels to be raised. This takes a bit of effort to make but that's half the fun of the workshop anyway.

I'd go with the wheelbarrow method first as it is cheap and easy. If it does the job, then you're done. If not, you can use the parts for something more advanced and you haven't wasted anything.

Simon

thankyou guys

after much drooling over the good set ups you guys have i am going for the wheelbarrow style as i have room i can shunt my equipment around

In the world of rock & roll the only thing more important in a piece of equipment is a good set of wheels.
4" blue resilex are the wheel of choice
can be baught fixed, swivel or locking swivel.
3" are almost as good but much cheaper

4" locking swivels go for arround $30 to $35 each but even rock pigs have difficulty busting them, rated at about 200kg per castor.
prices go down from there.

they are available up to 8" but they are pricey.

My spindle moulder sits on 4 x 3"lockers and is rock steady particularly if you swing the castors out before locking them.
A bit of weight in the machine helps as does a nice wide base.
cheers

Originally Posted by simon c

I had a look at this and posted something similar to yours some months ago. The options with pros and cons were:

1. Wheelbarrow method as per graeme and Chas. The main drawback with the wheelbarrow method is that you do need some space to manouver the item if it essential to get it is a certain spot or if your workshop is very tight. Otherwise one of the best methods due to its simplicity and low cost.

2. Lockable castors - very expensive and are never quite stable. You can save some money by making only the front castors lockable. The advantage over the wheelbarrow method is it is easier to manouver the item. You can make it more rigid by connecting it something else that is rigid like a workbench or a wall etc.

3. Lowerable/raiseable wheels. This give you the flexibility of wheels to move the item and then four rigid legs when in use. There are a number of options here. Chas's method of using wedges is the simplest but annoying if you do a lot of moving. Some of the commercial mobile bases have the faclity to lower the wheels. Barry White sent me a plan for a mobile base that allws the wheels to be raised. This takes a bit of effort to make but that's half the fun of the workshop anyway.

I'd go with the wheelbarrow method first as it is cheap and easy. If it does the job, then you're done. If not, you can use the parts for something more advanced and you haven't wasted anything.

Simon

Yep - just some clarification
two swivelling/rotating lockables on one side and two non swivelling non locking on the other
(just tack weld swiveling ones into position if you can't get ones that don't)
true you won't be able to move it around as easily as a shopping trolley, but it will be a little more stable perpendicular to the direction that the nonswiveler locking ones are in
This is the setup I have on my combination ripper/router table., the non swiveling wheels have been welded into postion perpendicular to the direction of ripping and placed on that side of the work table, and the lockable/unlockable wheels are on the other side of the table with the router.

Like others, ive got castors on everything due to space restrictions. any equipment with splayed legs, ive removed the legs and built strong base cabinets with storage.

I tried variations of lockable and fixed but decided that all castors had to be swivel for easy movement and positioning ,and also all castors are 100mm or larger to make the equipment glide more easilly.
works for me as i take a lot of the big stuff outside to work, weather permitting.
beejay1

One option that I don't think has been given in this thread,

Use normal castors with adjustable feet near each castor.

My adjustable feet on my table saw are simply leveling feet (upside down bolt with a plastic head and a slot at the other end for a screw driver). The frame has nuts welded to it and winding up and down is simply a matter of using the cordless drill screwing all feet down towards the floor until the bolt head makes contact with the ground.

Most times, I only set two feet down, when cutting full sheets I put all feet down.

One day I might improve things by replacing the nuts with captive sprockets and link all four with a chain so they can all be raised/lowered at the same time, but it isn't that hard to access each corner with a cordless drill.

Mike

Thats a good idea Mikey.