Best locking swivel casters with no play?

[ben5243]

I'm in the middle of building a mobile bench for my table saw and picked up what I thought were nice casters from the Lowes by my house.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Waxman-4-in-Polyolefin-Swivel-Caster/1000293713

They're nice but after putting them on and locking all 4, the swivel lock has a lot of play so the entire bench wiggles with little effort. The wheels don't spin, just the swivel has some slop to it. Maybe this will be reduced when the cast iron TS goes on it but I doubt it.

Are there locking swivel casters that lock with no slop? Before going on a trip to the closest Rockler store, can anyone verify these casters (the total-lock swivel version) have a nice tight lock on the swivel? Or suggest some that are solid?
http://www.rockler.com/4-heavy-duty-polyurethane-casters-optional-sizes

 

[dogdog]

dunno about those casters....

but $9.99 each and $19.99 pair is about the same different by 1c.

 

[Dingleburry]

Not sure about the lock, but i always go for kingboltless or kingpinless. And if you want good casters id goto a material handeling/industrial company. Not lowes.

 

[tarbellb]

Meh, those are pretty terrible casters. Im a bit of a caster **** and there are brands you should look for instead of going to Rockler (way overpriced).

Amazon actually has a good caster selection- Albion, RWM, Shepard, Hamilton, ER Wagner

I just bought a bunch of cheapies off Amazon, cant confirm longevity, but the price and function so far have been excellent-
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HZES2YO/?tag=atomicindus08-20
Certainly not heavy duty, but nice for $30 (set of 4)

If you really want some nice ones, maybe these- ($54 each...)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00426CCEA/?tag=atomicindus08-20

If they let you buy 4, only shows 1 in stock, this is amazing and jump on it.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0071120N6/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[ben5243]

Meh, those are pretty terrible casters. Im a bit of a caster **** and there are brands you should look for instead of going to Rockler (way overpriced).

Amazon actually has a good caster selection- Albion, RWM, Shepard, Hamilton, ER Wagner

I just bought a bunch of cheapies off Amazon, cant confirm longevity, but the price and function so far have been excellent-
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HZES2YO/?tag=atomicindus08-20
Certainly not heavy duty, but nice for $30 (set of 4)

If you really want some nice ones, maybe these- ($54 each...)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00426CCEA/?tag=atomicindus08-20

If they let you buy 4, only shows 1 in stock, this is amazing and jump on it.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0071120N6/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Thanks. I had no idea you could really screw up a caster wheel design. I just grabbed what was convenient because I only decided to build this mid-day yesterday and it was supposed to be cheap and simple.

I have the stand and saw upside down right now and I'm ready to bolt it together and flip it upright. I was hoping to find something I could pick up today and swap out before I do that.

If I were smarter I would have gone with those side-mount casters that let you lower the bench to the floor but I'd lose 5 inches of workbench height if I did that now.

I'm considering adding 2 of these and just leave the caster locks alone
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CPHTCT0/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Is it possible to get a truly solid feeling workbench with caster locks? With either the cheap ones or the Hamilton you linked? The ones I bought just have a bunch of notches that a key raises up into to prevent swiveling, are the "total-lock" style casters a different design concept?

 

[scooby074]

Youre not going to get good casters for $10ea. Not happening. Look for Albion, Faultless, Blickle etc. from an actual industrial supply. Also dont get the cheapest from even those brands.

As to stability, the best way to have a stable table is to do 2 fixed legs (to the floor) and 2 rigid wheels on the other 2 legs. Then you move the table with a table mover (removable handle with wheels). Pics to come. This is a Hammer Jointer but the principle is the same for anything you want to keep in position and still be able to move. Fixed wheels in the rear, feet on front, with the other 2 wheels on the "jack" or handle. Ive never had much luck with table locks.

 

[Wamsutta]

Your best casters are going to be from a brick and mortar caster supply.

 

[tarbellb]

If you are looking for truly stable platform, NO, "full locking" or anything like it will likely have some play. Floor locks are OK, some work better than others.

Scooby074 is correct, it needs to rest on its base for the best results.

There are lots of unique ways to accomplish this, a few threads on here lately have covered it.

 

[ben5243]

If you are looking for truly stable platform, NO, "full locking" or anything like it will likely have some play. Floor locks are OK, some work better than others.

Scooby074 is correct, it needs to rest on its base for the best results.

There are lots of unique ways to accomplish this, a few threads on here lately have covered it.

Thanks. I guess this is what I needed to hear. I should have researched more before I built the cart but it was kind of a spur of the moment project and I found hundreds of pictures online of mobile work benches using swivel casters.

The mobile base the table saw comes with has casters on a foot pedal but 2 of them are fixed and one swivels. The only way to keep the saw stable on 3 wheels is to put the foot pedal on the side (under the extension wing) which makes parking the saw up against a wall close to impossible. After finding out a few years ago they switched from a 4 swivel caster design with the pedal on the front to this awful 3 caster design, I took the entire base off and tossed together a cart without much planning. It's obviously not fancy or going to be in any woodworking magazines but it only took a few hours, and I'm thrilled. Next step will be adding a fold down outfeed table. Go ahead and bash it if you want, I can take it

With the ~250lb saw on it the cheap-o $10 swivel locks are way better but it's still not rock solid. I can "jiggle" the cart but it takes far more force than should ever be applied when using the saw properly. The casters glide around so nice (for their price) and I can park it straight against a wall with only a few inches of clearance on both sides.

In the future I may add a 4x4 under the ends in the short direction and work out a table mover system like that planer but for now this is a huge improvement.

By the way the saw is a Ridgid R4512 and the blade guard with dust port is from Shark Guard in case anyone asks

 

[tarbellb]

Looks like a great setup to me!

Those casters will work for a while, and you can always upgrade or change it up later.

There are some really cool table lock systems out there, look them up sometime.

Also, where did you find white Dewalt tool boxes?

 

[Jim_No_Garage]

After reading this thread I ran around my basement and garage and performed a "caster check" on all my rolling stock.

All of my "double lock" casters exhibit some play when they are locked. I have casters ranging from Home Depot/Lowes 3" versions to 4" versions sold by Woodcraft a few years ago.

My table saw base is very stabile when all 4 casters are locked into place so I wouldn't worry about it - but your results may vary.

Cheers

Jim

 

[ben5243]

Also, where did you find white Dewalt tool boxes?

They're actually Kobalt boxes haha. Your brain must have seen the dewalt tools right above the "alt" and just made the connection.
I can't find the white ones anymore and every other color appears to be no longer available but it's the same as this one
https://low.es/2ogpSst
They were a black friday clearance deal for around $300/ea. Nothing like the Lista's we use at work but good enough for me. And since we're talking casters my plan was to take the casters off those and build a workbench around them with a solid top. I got as far as laying a piece of plywood on top and then somehow it got covered covered with stuff...

 

[Tennessee Cattleman]

Check out Hamilton Casters.

 

[tarmy]

Get good casters...I have tried alot...these are the best I have found.

Either use RWM 47 or ER Wagner



Some of my things are close to 1000 lbs...no problem and no flat spots...

 

[tool_scrounge]

Youre not going to get good casters for $10ea. Not happening. Look for Albion, Faultless, Blickle etc. from an actual industrial supply. Also dont get the cheapest from even those brands.

If you are careful shopping on ebay, you can find new (or close to it) quality casters for <$10 each delivered. The link below is to my saga of getting replacement Colson 5" casters for two vintage Craftsman tool boxes.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=392534

But I agree in general that cheap no-name casters are usually junk and you should get the good stuff, even if it is more than $10 each.

 

[Maui]

The vast majority of casters I have were purchased at estate sales/auctions. You can get some very high end casters for very little money if you look in the right places.