Wheels for a workbench

[Shaohao]

Hey,

do any of you guys have any reliable brand of workbench wheels?

I have just started to make a table (workbench) - about 2m long and since it's going to be standing under the wall, I wanted to put on some decent wheels so that it could be easily moved to the middle of the room if needed.

I can see that price of such wheels are quite pricey per leg, so I wouldn't want to blow my money away. The table will be rather heavy, with drawers, vices - maybe even 150-200kg.

Do you know of any wheels worthy of attention?

 

[Droogs]

These guys have it covered

https://www.vk-castors.co.uk/

 

[custard]

I use Coldene Castors,

https://www.castors-online.co.uk/acatalog/

I'm sure there are other suppliers equally good, but the key thing is to avoid the ultra cheap castors that you'll find. By and large they are monumentally carp! So unless you're paying Coldene type prices then don't expect anything that will last, brake effectively, or roll smoothly.

Good luck!

 

[Lons]

Nothing wrong with castors but personally I don't like them on a workbench, I had that once and they were decent hd braked castors but the bench was prone to slight movement during heavy work, it could have been due to the smooth floor but I felt that the very small contact area of the rubber castor just wasn't enough.
My bench nowadays stays where it's put but if I needed it to be movable I'd look at a different mechanism either drop down / foldable wheels or a dolly a bit like this guy uses https://woodgears.ca/workbench/dolly.html, he has another idea he used for a table saw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XpLGcil9Qg and there are many other ideas out there for the sake of searching.
Just my opinion, I like the 4 solid legs of a bench firmly planted on the floor.

 

[pcb1962]

If you do fit castors then obviously they need to be braked. Note that there are 2 types of braked castors, the simpler ones just brake the wheel and not the swivel. Better ones, such as these that I've just bought for my hydraulic press project, lock both the wheel rotation and the swivel.

 

[MikeG.]

Nothing wrong with castors but personally I don't like them on a workbench, I had that once and they were decent hd braked castors but the bench was prone to slight movement during heavy work, it could have been due to the smooth floor but I felt that the very small contact area of the rubber castor just wasn't enough.
My bench nowadays stays where it's put.......
Just my opinion, I like the 4 solid legs of a bench firmly planted on the floor.

Yep. That's my number one priority in a workshop, I reckon: a solid bench in a fixed position.

 

[Ttrees]

Agreed, most folk will do all they can to stop the bench from moving.
If it must be movable, Carl Holmgren on youtube has some nifty lever designs that could be made work,
Probably the best principal of design, and probably around for a very long time.
Best, as in only needing a single pedal instead of messing around with two or four levers.
It can lift 200+kgs with the effort of a bicycle foot pump.
Tom

 

[Lons]

I've just looked at a video of his and some very interesting ideas, thanks for that.

 

[bobblezard]

I bought some of these from Axminster several years ago and fitted them to my (then) workbench

They aren't the best castors (you do need a fairly level floor and they can easily jam up on any obstacles) but they do offer a compromise straight out of the box allowing you bench to be solid on the floor but also portable at the press of a foot (x4). However I didn't fit them to my new bench which I don't plan on moving much and now use them on my mitre saw base.