Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Caster Wheel Alternative
Don Stephan
Friend wants storage drawers rolling on floor to keep shoes under her bed. Caster wheels likely require too much height. Think in I remember seeing larger individual larger ball bearings in screw on frames but haven't been able to find on Internet. Does anyone have another approach or familiar with ball bearing in screw on frame? Thanks in advance.
Re: Caster Wheel Alternative
John McGaw
I've seen wheels made for the purpose in some of the woodworking catalogs but can't lay hands on one now. I'd imagine that with a bit of field expediency one could adapt some inline skate wheels to do the same job and the urethane would be silent.
Re: Caster Wheel Alternative *LINK*
Bearing Casters
Re: Caster Wheel Alternative
William Duffield
You don't need to attach the casters to the bottom of the box. You can build cantalevered enclosures for the casters inset into the corners of the box. Casters like this have a very low profile, are light weight and quiet:
Re: Caster Wheel Alternative
Don Stephan
The bearing casters are what I was remembering from plans for tablesaw and planer roller stands. Two of the boxes would have to be slid in under the bed and then left or right behind nightstands. Recessed casters would be an elegant solution but too complex for her budget and my patience.
Re: Caster Wheel Alternative
William Duffield
There are several problems with bearing casters: They are relatively high friction, they are noisy, and they will test the Janka hardness of your floor boards.
Re: Caster Wheel Alternative
John McGaw
You never did say what the floor surface is. Hardwood will have a different answer than carpet. If the former and you need to be able to slide in all directions then some really high-quality hard thick felt pads may do the trick. If the latter then there is probably no need for any sort of wheels at all -- a smooth and well-polished bottom on the tray/box will likely move with little friction as long as there is no massive weight involved.
Agree, if carpet wheels may not work well
Dick Coers
Really on any surface, I'd rather use some strips of UHMW. Or get the furniture moving pads from Harbor Freight. They are really slippery and will feel like it's on rollers. Plus have very easy multidirectional movement.
Re: Caster Wheel Alternative
Don Evans
If it is being slide on carpet what about these. They could be attached to the drawer..
Re: Caster Wheel Alternative
Barry Irby
Since we don't know what the flooring is and even you don't know if it will always be the same, why not make her a drawer in a box that could sit on whatever flooring and function nicely without damaging the flooring. It would keep the dust out and you could make it so that when she moves it's a container, keeping her stuff together.
Re: Caster Wheel Alternative
Don Stephan
Carpet sliders are an interesting concept, but I'm not comfortable incorporating something with which I have no experience in a result for another. I did think about UHMW or felt strips for use on a wood floor, but expect if grit happened to get underneath the floor would gt scratched.
Yesterday I learned the bedroom floor is wood, but of course that could change with time.
She wants to maximize the amount of storage space under the bed, and doesn't want to have to move a nightstand to access the headboard end drawer, so a box won't work.
There is a concern that the roller casters, such as on roller frames to support long boards through a table saw or planer, are hard metal and could mar some floors.
Woodcraft sells "corner casters" that are partially hidden if the four sides of the drawer extend below the bottom, but still would have a net height of 2 1/4" to the bottom of the drawer bottom. The lowest overall height I found is at McMaster Carr and still has an overall height of 2". They are $28.40 each, and the Woodcraft corner casters $16.75 for a set of 4. Of course, no comparison of
quality and performance under load, but how heavy can a drawer of shoes be?
I have given further thought to William's suggestion to cut out the corners of the drawer bottom and mount the casters higher. I don't think it would add so very much additional time after all, but not sure how much surface area would be lost on the drawer bottom.
Think I'll ask her to find a stack of books totalling 3" (corner caster + 1/2" plywood drawer bottom + 1/4" fudge factor) and see if she can fit every shoe, upright or on its side, between the book and bed frame.