Shelving with wheels

[Car884]

After tripping and stumbling in my unorganized shop (40x40), I started looking at some great shop pictures here. Has anyone put shelving on wheels?? Reason I am asking, My projects tend to go from rebuilding cars to building book shelves, to threading pipe for oil barrells. I also have lots of plumbing and heating fittings lying around. Thanks for any thoughts.

[ChiScouter]

We do it all the time, unless you have a lip things tend to rattle off. They can be top heavy unless you load them properly. When they are top heavy and you hit something on the floor when moving them the results can be ugly. Ive seen guys try to put wheels on store bought shelving with poor results, they tend to twist and flex a lot. By the time they get them beefed up well they would have been better off building them from scratch built to roll. My .02 is to weld them wherever you can and build a stout base with some triangulation where you can without affecting their utility.

[1TON73K5]

I have almost everything in my garage on wheels of some kind. Makes it sooo easy to re-organize things, or clean the garage out for a good sweeping/cleaning. Some stuff is still not on wheels but the majority of stuff is. Some things should NOT be on wheels though. My 20" disc grinder I don't think would be good on wheels. My near 500/600 lb cast iron blanchard ground gang drill table (no drill heads) would be good on wheels though. It's sooo god damn heavy to move and I have been wanting to move it forever.

[edog1]

How about buying a pallet jack and building all of your shelves or racks that can be moved with it. I know buying heavy duty casters can get expensive if your having to outfit your equipment with them.

[Car884]

All great ideas. Thanks. It did cross my mind about wheels on store shelves. Thanks for the heads up on the twisting. A pallet jack is something to consider especially since I refurbish old cast iron radiators. Moving them by myself is a bitch. Thanks everyone for your time and ideas. I hope to get this done while work is slowing up a bit.
Thanks

[jasonmt]

Depending on your budget Greenlee makes lots of storage stuff and it is all built with mounts to mount casters on:

[Mudinyeri]

Build stuff with a pyramid shape to keep it from being top heavy.

I also build carts out of heavy angle iron to put under vehicles when I have the axles out of them. I put four "crazy wheel" casters under each cart and use one cart under the front and one under the back to move vehicles wherever I want them in the shop.

I'd like to have my drill press on wheels but I haven't come up with a way to deal with its top-heavy nature yet.

[bluesman2a]

99% of the stuff in my shop is on wheels. it's nice.
I particularly like the bakers racks from Sams club. Cheap, sturdy as hell, modular, and they come in 2 flavors, plain wire racks and wire racks with big bins in them for storing odds and ends.

I store steel drops in one of the bin racks, prolly at least 200# on it.

http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/nav...=5&item=454879
http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/nav...069&pCatg=7085

[xj42]

Along these lines, what kind of casters do you guys use? HF stuff get the job done, or do you like to spend a little money on them and step up in quality? Do you prefer four swivel, or a two fixed/two swivel setup?

[ChiScouter]

2 swivel, 2 fixed. 4 swivel are a pita to control with one person. The swivel is more important than whatever kind of bearing/bushing is on the wheels. Casters with 2 rows of bearings on the swivel are far better than one. Whatever you buy grease them before using them. Buy the largest diameter you can without raising your CG too far. I would recommend nothing smaller than 4 inches in dia for the wheels

[Slowzuki]

I bought a pallet jack on Kijiji for cheap and put everything heavy on something I can get the jack under.

I have lumber pallets (I'm still building), a sheet wood pallet, blocking pallet, all my furnaces I'm working on are on pallets. Axles, transmissions, even my work bench can be picked up.

The jack was cheaper than 4 casters and I can store it shoved into one of the pallets.

My shelving is not on pallets, nor would I want to try and move it loaded. 8 ft high.

[ChiScouter]

Originally Posted by 1TON73K5

I have almost everything in my garage on wheels of some kind. Makes it sooo easy to re-organize things, or clean the garage out for a good sweeping/cleaning. Some stuff is still not on wheels but the majority of stuff is. Some things should NOT be on wheels though. My 20" disc grinder I don't think would be good on wheels. My near 500/600 lb cast iron blanchard ground gang drill table (no drill heads) would be good on wheels though. It's sooo god damn heavy to move and I have been wanting to move it forever.

Originally Posted by Mudinyeri

Build stuff with a pyramid shape to keep it from being top heavy.

I also build carts out of heavy angle iron to put under vehicles when I have the axles out of them. I put four "crazy wheel" casters under each cart and use one cart under the front and one under the back to move vehicles wherever I want them in the shop.

I'd like to have my drill press on wheels but I haven't come up with a way to deal with its top-heavy nature yet.

I have my belt/disc combo sander, my heavy ass powermatic drill press, and my free standing spindle sander on these
http://www.amazon.com/Delta-50-941-M...9622517&sr=1-2

The stands were being thrown away, so the were freebies and I cut the one down smaller and rewelded for the drill press. You could make your own without much sweat. I think you can buy just the caster assembly from Delta which would save a ton of labor. When it is stationary the load is taken off the caster and the weight is distributed on 2 wheels and 2 pads.

[Mudinyeri]

How's the stability on those stands, ChiScouter? I could easily make something like that but lifting the COG of the drill press - even a few inches - is what makes me nervous.

[ChiScouter]

Originally Posted by Mudinyeri

How's the stability on those stands, ChiScouter? I could easily make something like that but lifting the COG of the drill press - even a few inches - is what makes me nervous.

When it is off of the caster the stance is wider than when it is on its base. I had planned on bolting the drill press to the stand but haven't felt the need. So far I only move the press a few feet and when holding the table it feels completely stable. It only sits about an inch off the ground and when the caster is engaged it only lifts it about another inch at the most. If you build your own I would recommend larger wheels, probably 3 inchers, to roll over cracks or expansion joints easier and design it to run low.

[adampfisters]

Just find a "flat" cart like used at home depot. You will probably be able to find them on craigslist as I see them pop up from time to time. Good base to work from with good casters and you can mount whatever you want to it. It is also strong enough to grab with a fork lift if you need to at some point.

[Mudinyeri]

I picked up one of those rolling Delta stands this weekend. It wasn't quite free, but a pretty good deal. Just need to cut it down to fit the drill press now.