Caster Question

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Peanut

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I need help with casters. I have a rolling butcher block island in my kitchen (30yrs old). Its casters are starting to get stuck and drag. I store all my cast iron in it, a lot of weight.

Today I planned to put in new shelf liners and I had bought rubber casters at Ace hardware. The only “size” mentioned on the package is 2 inches, which is the diameter of the wheels.

My problems is this… The old casters have a plastic sleeve around the metal insert for the caster shaft. The insert with plastic sleeve fits up into the leg of the island.

The hole for the insert and sleeve of the old casters are a lot larger than the metal insert for the new casters. As is… the new casters would lean, or even fall out if the island were lifted.

I though about taking some plastic tubing, (size approx) slip it over the new inserts. Hoping to make the new inserts fit tightly in the leg.

Is there some kind of sizing to go by? A chart or some other means to know if I have the wrong size casters?

Info appreciated.

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Personally I would look for a caster that is rated for more weight than your last set. You can even get a 3" set if necessary, though that would raise your counter height 1/2". I had lots of heavy duty casters to choose from on Amazon when I was shopping for casters.
 
I have no idea what the original casters are rated for. The ones I bought are rated for 80lbs per caster. I think the total weight of the island w/cast iron is less than 80lbs, if it's over it's not by much. So, I think I have plenty of room on the caster rating.

I like the idea of loctite. I have a small tube, not enough for this job. I'll put it on my shopping list.
 
Can you plug the old holes with glued in dowels?

Then drill new holes to fit the new casters?

Ben
This is exactly what I would do, I'm a huge fan of epoxy glue, the five minute cure type, not the quick cure type as I've seen problems with that type, I've seen cracking and crumbling of that type when the glued joint was under stress. When you have that weight, you really need heavy duty casters, also might be good to get the locking type for at least two of them, just to keep the block in place when being used.
 
I like Ben's idea, but this would work too.
View attachment 57168
Put it in the hole left from the old castors, insert new castors, wipe up around edges, and let cure for 24 hrs. Won't go anywhere.
Is that stuff stiff? Wow a sentence that contains 2 consecutive words that differ by one letter)

I ask because the swivel shaft of the casters is going to be under considerable torque.

Ben
 
Is that stuff stiff? Wow a sentence that contains 2 consecutive words that differ by one letter)

I ask because the swivel shaft of the casters is going to be under considerable torque.

Ben
It's what we use (and is approved) to mount handrails in concrete. Once it sets, there is no moving it. At HD, it isn't over with the epoxies and silicones, but is a specialty item over by the lumber and concrete. I think it's about $27 per tube.
 
It's what we use (and is approved) to mount handrails in concrete. Once it sets, there is no moving it. At HD, it isn't over with the epoxies and silicones, but is a specialty item over by the lumber and concrete. I think it's about $27 per tube.
Well that is dear stuff.

Thanks for sharing. I'll probably need it some day.

Ben
 
I have casters on many of our chairs that look like the ones under the butcher block and they are really rather poorly made, they get hair in the axle and hardly turn and when you sit down on the chairs the casters often pop into place.
 
Thanks but... I don't think they have crappy furniture casters.

View attachment 57197
We might have some hard plastic tube-like spacers. Was just asking Hubby what they are called and he says he didn't throw the ones away we just received from a project. Will look tomorrow when I get to work.
 
We might have some hard plastic tube-like spacers. Was just asking Hubby what they are called and he says he didn't throw the ones away we just received from a project. Will look tomorrow when I get to work.

Thanks but don't go to all that trouble. TSC has clear plastic tubing of various sizes. I'm sure they will have size to make such a spacer out of. It doesn't have to be perfect, just something to take up most of the space.

If the island was something that I moved often I'd need a long term reliable fix. As it's not, I'm not going to jump through hoops for the perfect solution.
 
Some of the smoothest "castors" I've ever had were used on pianos. Not the metal ones, they're usually on "school pianos", usually a studio sized upright. Normally, they're a rubber castor, often dual wheels in the same assembly, and all ball bearing. They're kinda expensive, though. They often did come with a "socket" made for them to pop in and out of. Mount the socket securely (and on a piano, it was often in solid maple), and just pop the caster into it.

It's been so many years since I had a piano supply catalog, I wouldn't even know where to get them today. But I thought of 'em...
 
Just throwing this out there.
Have you considered furniture sliders? We use them a lot. Can easily slide pretty much anything of any weight you'll find in a house.
They will probably distribute the weight much better than casters as well, which help reducing any damage that a casters might do because they concentrate the weight in a very small footprint.
 
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