Casters

[Gregster613]

I used 3, 2x12's, with 6" casters. The best thing about it is now when I drop a heavy piece of metal, it lands on the wood, instead of chipping out a chunk of the floor.

View attachment 3970817

Xfaxman, Did you mean 3 (2x12's) so you've got 36" across the bottom? I can't really see from the picture.
It makes good sense though to have a wide base to avoid any tipping issues.
How many 6" casters did you end up using then? 4, 6, or 8?
I've got a Harbor Freight press that I have never assembled yet; and your picture gives me a good idea of what I'd like to have. Thanks, Greg

 

[George2615]

Xfaxman, Did you mean 3 (2x12's) so you've got 36" across the bottom? I can't really see from the picture.
It makes good sense though to have a wide base to avoid any tipping issues.
How many 6" casters did you end up using then? 4, 6, or 8?
I've got a Harbor Freight press that I have never assembled yet; and your picture gives me a good idea of what I'd like to have. Thanks, Greg

Greg,
I also have a HF press. I also bought one of their roll around dollys and mounted the press onto it. Been using it for about 10 years or so now.

 

[sandman2234]

I love putting things on casters, but I don't like the added height of them so I usually build the dolly like a lowboy trailer, where the deck that is supporting the load is as low as possible and the wheels are outside of the footprint of the unit I am putting casters on. Because the wheels are outside of the footprint, it makes it more stable, and by lowering the unit in the middle, it makes it a lot more stable.
Most of the time, there is no need to have the empty space underneath the item that we are setting on the dolly. Building one requires it to be made of metal, not wood, or at least I have never seen one made of wood.
David from jax

 

[Happy in NC]

Pretty much everything in my garage rolls. Makes it easier to keep things cleaned up and out of any water that may accumulate.
I put a piece of 5/8 plate at the base of the press and then made a removeable steel plate under the press table. Now I have base storage and a tray to work on.
No problem rolling the press when I need to.
The only tool that bothers me for height is the floor drill press. Will also do the "lowboy" under it eventually. It stand higher then I like and isn't as stable as it should be.

 

[Xfaxman]

Xfaxman, Did you mean 3 (2x12's) so you've got 36" across the bottom? I can't really see from the picture.

Went out to the shop to take pictures and it looks like my memory failed me. There is one 2x12 and two 2x10's totaling 29 1/2 inches.

It makes good sense though to have a wide base to avoid any tipping issues.
How many 6" casters did you end up using then? 4, 6, or 8?

4, one at each corner.

I've got a Harbor Freight press that I have never assembled yet; and your picture gives me a good idea of what I'd like to have. Thanks, Greg

Better view of the base:

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

I screwed some pretty ordinary casters to my HF press, and it rolls and works just fine. The press isn't that heavy, and I can't fit much weight on a small press.

I thought the angle-iron feet on the press were too flimsy for me to just attach casters to the existing screw holes, but it worked. I was planning to put a plywood base under it and run the caster screws through the plywood as well as the angle irons, but I forgot about it. I think it would be an improvement.

Incidentally, I took a lesson from Youtuber Jimmy Diresta and started welding my casters to things instead of spending two hours locating 16 holes precisely, drilling them, and using lots of hardware to attach casters. He was right. My projects look better, I can paint them with the casters in place, and I save myself a lot of pointless work.

 

[sandman2234]

Xfaxman,
Would it help to weld a flat plate across the top of the existing angle iron legs and then attach the caster wheels to the bottom of that plate? That would drop the overall height of the press by several inches, making it a lot less top heavy. An added long term advantage would be wood crush when the wood gets rotten, but that could be countered by the metal rusting. If you used a piece of 5" channel, and cut one of the legs off, you could weld the other leg to the front(ends) of the angle iron legs and use the flat plate of the channel as the mounting point for the casters. That would lower and extend your point of tipover, thereby making the press a whole lot steadier.
Welding has to be in your wheelhouse, as well as having various scraps of steel, but all of that can be farmed out at a minor expense.
David from jax

 

[Gregster613]

Went out to the shop to take pictures and it looks like my memory failed me. There is one 2x12 and two 2x10's totaling 29 1/2 inches.

4, one at each corner.

Better view of the base:

View attachment 4006784
View attachment 4006785

Thanks Xfaxman, I now see it far much clearer and understand it all. I also read what the next poster said and I see his point also, but it would only lower everything by an inch or so anyhow - and I bet the wood muffles sounds of metal falling to the floor by a lot!!

 

[Xfaxman]

View attachment 4006805

Xfaxman,
Would it help to weld a flat plate across the top of the existing angle iron legs and then attach the caster wheels to the bottom of that plate? That would drop the overall height of the press by several inches, making it a lot less top heavy. An added long term advantage would be wood crush when the wood gets rotten, but that could be countered by the metal rusting. If you used a piece of 5" channel, and cut one of the legs off, you could weld the other leg to the front(ends) of the angle iron legs and use the flat plate of the channel as the mounting point for the casters. That would lower and extend your point of tipover, thereby making the press a whole lot steadier.
Welding has to be in your wheelhouse, as well as having various scraps of steel, but all of that can be farmed out at a minor expense.
David from jax

Yep, that would work, but being top heavy has never been a problem in the 12 years since I added the casters.