Anyone for applied fizzicks?

[Cursitor Doom]

Er, not sure that's correct. If one of the heavy end castors fails, that corner will instantly collapse to the floor where it will once again be firmly supported, albeit the machine will be listing over. The remaining heavy end castor may have to suffer a transient overload until the other corner hits the floor, but that doesn't mean it will necessarily fail.

Add to this fact that (as some kind soul suggested) I'll have attached/ slid suitable lengths of timber under both ends of the base to minimise the drop in the event of a castor failing to a centimeter or two, I think the risks of a failure such as you describe are pretty minimal.

[Cursitor Doom]

Yes, I know we tend to lean down on things we're pushing, but I think you're still missing the finer point here. According to the parallelogram of forces, *even if I push the load in a perfectly horizontal plane* there will be more stress on the castors than if I

*pull* it in the same plane.

[newshound]

You are wrong. Draw a diagram with *all* the forces.

[GB]

Yes, that's one good reason for making the lathe's journey as smooth as possible. People have already suggested laying a hardboard track.