Casters for table?

[Flyingpig]

Whats the best and worst casters to put under my table legs? Steel, poly, rubber, air or hard?

Im building 3 tables and want them all the same height and capacity. Saw some today at Harbor Freight that looked like good wheels but cheesy brackets.

Help me out. I only want to do this once.

Thanks

[Black Wolf]

The rolling surface of the wheel - Steel or Poly - depends on the specifics of your application.

I would stay away from pneumatic tires as they are not really designed for this application, and will lose air "sitting" which will alter stability and height.

Best of luck.

[Flyingpig]

Probably hard surface like garage or driveway. I didnt like the idea of air tires due to hot metal ***** rolling around on the floor. I also dont want my table to "bounce" when Im wailing away with a hammer doing destructive testing....

[Chuck U&R]

I like hard rubber casters.
They roll over small debris better than steel.
Also the larger the better, easier to roll.

Casters on sale -

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...0&N=762991+120

[Chuck U&R]

Oh yeah -

Check Enco monthly sales flyer.

Usually FREE shipping > $50. with code.

[arvidj]

A summary of my experience:

Pneumatic will go flat eventually. Murphy suggests it will be flat when you want to move it

Steel will hold the most weight, will not flat spot, requires a clean rolling surface.

Non-steel has "anti steel" properties. They usually hold less weight - but may hold "enough" weight for your application. They may flat spot but that depends on what kind of caster material and how much weight they are holding up. And because they are "softer" than steel are more tollerant of stuff on the rolling surface.

As large a diameter as practical.

In general I have found steel to have the most load capacity per caster dollar and use the "clean rolling surface" as an incentive to clean up the floor more often than I would without the incentive.

An alternative design I have used is casters as "transportation only" and have adjustable pads that I lower when I get the table to where I am going. That way the table legs can be adjusted to take into account the variances of the floor and my need to make the table level or the same height as something else. It seems to provide a more stable platform than a table on wheels - even with good wheel brakes. And given that the wheels are simply for movement allows me to use a type that I would not have choosen if they were the primary table support.