Wheely good workbench solution

[Ttrees]

Seasons greetings folks, hope you are all keeping well,
Thought you would like to see another retractable caster design for a workbench.

Not finished yet, so will see how it will go.
Loosely based on Carl Holmgren's (youtube) designs, basically a single lever design.
Just used some metal I had lying around, so it isin't as tidy as it could be.
Used a spring from an pop up umbrella, but unsure if it will do the job as it seems a bit stiff compressing by hand, eager to see if it'll work when I get the chance.

Could be even more low profile if one was concerned, my aim was to have it as tight to the strecher, but it ended up a bit away from it, due to the spring choice, and the fact that I didn't properly check for square whilst welding the angle iron.
Should have bought that big building square that I have been wanting
Since its out a bit, I chose to have a bit more leeway on things.
I'm sure someone with a bit more sense than me, could make a much simpler latch which could be a lower profile and do the job of not being in the way.
This could be an important issue for someone who wants to sweep under the bench easily, or for some other reason.

I have another similar thing to build which will hopefully be a bit tidier, and might take a wee bit more head scratching, so am eager to see what I could have done.
I have a broken return spring for the pillar drill somewhere, which would be interesting.

Figuring out the location for the hinges, that scrap ply was a bit warped.

Now I could start to get a better idea on what bits of steel I could use

If I were to only get this far, it would have been worth it...
only needing some scrap or something to stop the things from falling.

Mocking up some metal bits

Some bits for the latch

Not much stuff needed really

Rough as a badgers buttocks but better than some flimsy plate.
A bit of paint should work wonders.

Only a bit of paint and assembly needing doing.
Ended up sandwiching another sheet of ply in both of the (feet?) ..hence ply on the floor,
and another wee plate under the far set of casters.

Hopefully it will work well as it does now, although with a bit of weight on it, things might be a bit different.
Will keep you posted when I get back to the workshop.

All the best for 2021!
Tom

 

[Ttrees]

Hello again
Happy new year to you all!.
Eventually got around to getting this done, a thick slathering of paint took a long time to dry, as the workshop is quite chilly.
I had some more things to make whilst I had metalwork and painting to do...
Some threadbar was scavenged, and I'd just enough nuts and washers to do the job.
Got around to testing it and pleased to say it works well.

I put a bend on the spring and drilled another hole since the last photos.
The spring might be a tad stiff for the job, ...
Or maybe I just need to take a file to the corner of the pedal and round it a bit...
or maybe unbolt the catch and add a bead of weld where it stops against the tab.
You might make out that it is canted forward slightly.

I'm thinking the witness marks on the paint might make it clear or not.
Still works without fault, but its just not quite as smooth and silent as it could be.
More of a case of the why might be why I would even bother sorting that.
Its not like I'm in an apartment or anything.

Plenty of space for a shelf or to sweep or simply even, to find that dropped cap iron screw.
If it doesn't roll in behind the wheels that is, which would be very unlikely wouldn't it?

And for good measure a test to see if it was any more difficult to lift a hefty load of timber, which was done with ease, maybe not quite as easily as if it were a bit more fettled.

Ill make an update if I decide to go back at it again for whatever reason.

All the best folks
Tom

 

[Ttrees]

Well, twasn't long before more fettling was needed...
The spring kept undoing itself so it needed to be bolted down.
Luckily had enough of the take your face off handbag umbrella spring to have another go at it.
Took a bit of a fight with two pairs of vice grips and a pliers, but got there in the end.
Seems solid enough with a washer, I was thinking I might have to make some sort of wee plate for it to stay put, but it's not budging as it is, so will leave that for another day if it happens to wriggle it's way loose.

Since I've messed around with now it for a bit, some might be interested on how well it works.
It wheels around very easily and puts up no fight whatsoever, which I was slightly surprised with, so this tells me the paddles/caster locations are not too long. (bearing in mind the base for this bench is pretty long)
It's not tippy either which was the biggest surprise.

(made note that the paddles do collect quite a bit of rubbish, so would go about it the same as I made on the tablesaw, much cleaner)


One thing that I didn't see coming, was the short lever will hit the ground if you wheel it to the left and crash into something, or jam the caster into an offcut.
This can be sorted easily with a stop, which I may well do in future.
I have yet to see how big of a deal that will be, was thinking of some sort of pin arrangement to catch into a slot on the long lever kinda thing, instead of drilling another hole into the bench strecher or having another lookalike pedal.

Another more important issue might be for those with a bad floor.
I chose to make it lift quite tall off the ground, around an inch,
to account for tipping, and for waste not to get stuck whilst moving it.

I didn't do any calculations and just winged it with the metal I had.
If the floor is properly level where you drop the bench, the foot lever will be as you see it.
If you happen to have an area where it's not level, then that lever will lift up
and bottom out against the upper strecher of the bench, or get close to it.
This leaves little space for your foot, and a bit of footwork might be in order.

I am very happy with it though, it makes the workshop seem much bigger now.
One safety aspect I will mention, as those likely interested making their bench mobile will have a cramped workshop, and might use it more than they think
they do!
I'm sure some of you might often do a poor man's pommel without knowing it! hopping over boxes of offcuts and the likes, like a gorilla...
DEPRESS the levers afterwards or you might end up landing on your aarse!

And as again, will do an update on how things go,
I might end up making a stop for the short lever in future if need be.

Very glad I made the base for this bench first, as the next design will be more involved.
Would be very interested to see some other ideas.
Thanks for looking
Tom

 

[Sandyn]

I like the design. It's real fun doing things like that. It is is similar to the wheels on my Record band saw, however, it was a really flimsy design and had to be strengthened. With a design like that, you don't need to do calculations, just make it big and strong.
My trouble is an uneven floor with a slope. I was going to use wheels, on a bench, but just use jacking screws at each corner. More hassle, but I can't think of a better way. Improving the the floor isn't an option.

 

[Ttrees]

Thanks Sandyn, it always fun to do some head scratching, learn something from it, and have something handy at the end.

Regarding an uneven floor, and the want to have the bench level or even for it to drop down to a stationary position...
for this design, it might not be a good idea to have it lift quite so tall, there must be only a mm or two in it, adjustable by adding/removing a layer of the paddle.
but the design of this bench makes that pedal lift quite high, possibly high enough for the pedal to make contact with the underside of the upper strecher, and thus
stop the bench from fully lowering.

I got lucky and on the worst area of the floor, the pedal might lift a wee bit high,
but with a bit more weight should swing those casters around which will lower the paddle/pedal, without weight on the bench might need a wiggle.
My floor isn't great either, as some parts are very soft, I don't want to find some new spots.
The bench is only getting moved for using the TS and its going back after, as I like having my hand tools and the rest directly behind me.

I was thinking that one could lift the bench a lot more than an inch, to help with leveling on a sloped floor...
If you are adamant to have a foot pedal rather than a hand lever, then it complicates matters with a skyward pedal, not a bother if you can design that issue out, which I'm pondering about for the nice bench.

This mans bench might give you some ideas, it has got me thinking anyways.


Here is a similar idea


I wouldn't want to use jacking screws on a bench,
It's no fun turning screws that are bearing weight, and to get away from any wobbliness/racking it needs a good screw or bolt and it integrated into a lift.
Might be alright for a machine, but for a bench I'd pass.
I'd sooner just use a plank of timber, much less involved, probably quieter
and I'd say more preferable.

Tom