heavy duty casters for shop

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central florida
I am looking for some casters for a few things. One is a very heavy 16" jet band saw.

I see a lot of casters that say heavy duty. Any clues on which casters are really heavy duty and which ones are just phoning it in? I know solid steel would work but I don't have solid steel money and I would like the wheels to be 2" high. Is 2" enough height for a heavy shop tool to roll?

Here is an example of something economical but would they actually work for more than a week. I had one experience where the wheels flattened on one side.

these are $28 free shipping
http://www.ebay.com/itm/16-Pcs-2-Sw...ps=63&clkid=972243048105291246#ht_3203wt_1438
 
check out the other stores listing for a similar caster for the rating keith,, then use the size and style you show as a comparison i would say the ones you show might work but you need to look a moveable base set up to compare with to see what they use on them..
 
In my experience, cheap casters are quite expensive, as you end up tossing them and then buying the good ones. If you spend the money on a good set of casters, rated for the work load you are going to subject them to, once you absorb the cost, you will never think about them again, many years from now you will have forgotten the cost, but those quality casters will still be working very well.

What kind of floor are you working on?

Do you want them to lock in place?

Will you be moving the BandSaw often?

I have some really cool Zambus casters on my lathe, they have a pad that you use a wrench to turn down so they actually lift the wheel off the floor, they are rock solid but I can move my lathe if I need to. I'd not wish to be down on the floor with a wrench daily to move the bandsaw around, but for the occasional use they are fantastic!
 
In my experience, cheap casters are quite expensive, as you end up tossing them and then buying the good ones. If you spend the money on a good set of casters, rated for the work load you are going to subject them to, once you absorb the cost, you will never think about them again, many years from now you will have forgotten the cost, but those quality casters will still be working very well.

What kind of floor are you working on?

Do you want them to lock in place?

Will you be moving the BandSaw often?

I have some really cool Zambus casters on my lathe, they have a pad that you use a wrench to turn down so they actually lift the wheel off the floor, they are rock solid but I can move my lathe if I need to. I'd not wish to be down on the floor with a wrench daily to move the bandsaw around, but for the occasional use they are fantastic!


The floor is concrete, not perfectly smooth. I don't think I will be moving it much. I don't need locking casters. I prefer to just use a long wedge if I need to keep the casters from rolling.

I said 16" band saw but I meant to say 18 inch. Its pretty heavy.

I am wondering if any poly caster would slowly flatten on the bottom?
 
+1 on Zambus carrymaster casters. I've used a variety of cheaper casters and these things rock. I can roll my bandsaw (grizzly 17" so comparable) around easily with one hand and the drop down pads actually lock it in place and are stable unlike most so-called locking casters which I have tried.

The ones I have you can scroll up/down with a finger and generally unless I'm resawing something BIG I just lock down the two on the infeed side of the saw which holds it plenty good.
 
Keith i second what Stu has said. I am cheap at the best of times and have already been bitten on the caster issue more than once. Now i learned the hard way.

I just finished making a mobile base for my 14" Delta bandsaw with a totally enclosed steel base. I used the wheels out of lee valley casters. These you show look to be knock off of the Lee Valley type but the give away is the way the bolt is set in them. The Lee Valley units are real poly heavy duty ones and the bolt is made to secure itself in the frame of the swivel and then a nut on the other side. These seem to just have a bolt straight through. I aint saying they bad but I read buyer beware if i look at other stuff that seller is selling. By example they have a knock off look alike freud raised panel set. The price alone should set alarm bells ringing. They knocked off the box and the red and the markings on the box but look carefully at the cutting carbide and its a give away.
 
I don't remember the brand but I purchased these for $15 each at Home Depot about 4-5 years ago to replace the castors on a heavy duty ShopFox planer base. They lock for rolling as well as turning. There was an extra plastic shield which came off & doesn't seem to effect anything. With the Belsaw planer + 5hp motor on the stand I can roll it anywhere with one hand even up over interlocking 1/2" anti-fatigue mats.
 

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pays to shop wisely for castors, get good prices, but its been my experience, cheap is cheap.
castors are a very important part of a mobile shop, or keeping things moving smoothly, buy the best.
 
Another vote for the Zambus casters. I've got them on a 600 pound lathe. They are expensive, but I didn't want to compromise on my lathe.

Regarding the eBay casters you linked to, I wouldn't spend a dime on casters that don't have an actual capacity listed in the description. "Heavy Duty" doesn't really tell you much information.

For low-cost casters, I've had good luck with Harbor Freight, but I don't buy the individual casters...I buy their 1000 pound rated moving dollies on sale and remove the casters to mount on other things. On sale, you can get the small dolly for about $10. I don't think you'll find comparable casters for $2.50 each. ;)
 
i paid around $16 per caster for the blue tire ones at home depot. if i remember right they were rated for around 350 lbs each. i have used them on all of my benches, including the behemoth where my lathe resides.
 
This is a lot of great info on casters. So many of you like the zambus casters I looked them up. The act 400 looks like what I would need. the weight limits jump from 77lbs to 300 plus so the act 400 is the smallest I could use. It is a beautiful caster but I can't even figure out how much it costs and from the looks of it I wouldn't be surprised if it was $25 each. That puts it way out of my price range for this project.

You have all given me some good stuff to think about. I doubt I will be getting the ones I mentioned in my first post so I will have to look around a little more.
 
Keith,

You can get the carrymasters online from mjvail: http://www.mjvail.com/carrymaster.htm

I put the AC-300S under my bandsaw which is about as small as I'd go (this is also the style I'd recommend more).

Another alternative is Great Lakes and Footmaster: http://www.greatlakescaster.com/products.php?cat=262. These are perhaps not quite as well build as the Zambus but are pretty close and a lot cheaper. You can get a 220 lb caster (each) there for $16.
 
Keith,

You can get the carrymasters online from mjvail: http://www.mjvail.com/carrymaster.htm

I put the AC-300S under my bandsaw which is about as small as I'd go (this is also the style I'd recommend more).

Another alternative is Great Lakes and Footmaster: http://www.greatlakescaster.com/products.php?cat=262. These are perhaps not quite as well build as the Zambus but are pretty close and a lot cheaper. You can get a 220 lb caster (each) there for $16.

Did I read correctly that the ac-300s is $40 EACH? I'm not saying they aren't worth it and they look very well designed but I can't afford that. Believe it or not I bought my 18" jet band saw ( I made a mistake in my OP when I said it was a 16") for $300 in perfect almost un used condition. I can't spend over $160 to make it roll.

Now great lakes caster looks much more my wallet size.
I'm going to give that some heavy consideration.

thanks
 
Yeah, the Carrymaster casters are top of the scale price-wise. I love mine, but saw you were on a budget, so that's why I didn't suggest them in my first post.
 
Wood craft has something very similar to the carry masters but its a set of 4 for $109.http://www.woodcraft.com/product/2021166/25291/woodriver-machine-leveling-caster-plate-mounted-4-pack.aspx
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I bought there 3" swivel double locking casters for all of my mobile bases and tables and they have been the easiest casters to roll around that I've ever used plus they have a weight rating of 300 lbs each.
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......... For low-cost casters, I've had good luck with Harbor Freight, but I don't buy the individual casters...I buy their 1000 pound rated moving dollies on sale and remove the casters to mount on other things. On sale, you can get the small dolly for about $10. I don't think you'll find comparable casters for $2.50 each. ;)

Almost all my stuff is on these re-purposed casters. There is a sticker on one that says rated 333 pounds.
Right now these dollies are on sale for $8.99.
 
I like the HF style ones for some purposes (like shop cabinets, they rule for shop cabinets - I have one metal cabinet I got at an auction- full of woodworking books for $45 and they threw in one of those dollies!! Its now my paint cabinet and still has the same dolly under it), but for tools like a BS I prefer having something that I can lock down better.

The other locking casters I tried still tended to "twist" if pushed on which lets things wobble back and forth. The great lakes and carrymaster have the post in the center of the caster with the wheel offset so when its down its more like a straight down rubber foot than a caster and doesn't wiggle or wobble or jiggle or joggle. That's a good thing when I have a 3/4" blade wizzing by at high speeds :D

Over the years I've tried a variety of locking casters before I ended up with the CarryMasters (random sales/ and most have ended up under various cabinets, etc... since) and I can say that the drop down post type locking that they (and the great lakes and footmaster) have hold tools in place a lot better than anything I've come up with otherwise other than systems that retract the casters out of the way (or similar). I didn't want the retracting style casters on my BS though because a lot of them have a fair bit of "jump and bump" when you raise or lower them and with the high center of gravity already on the BS that made me nervous (I actually had the BS on a HTC 3000 base for about a week before I got the casters in so I could roll it into the shop - the htc was destined for a different use but was temporarily diverted. The 3000 is way better than the 2000 for stability, but still made the saw go all wibble wobble a little when I raised/lowered it).
 
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