Adding Caster wheels to Table Saw?

[bdeditch]

Is a person able to just add locking caster wheels to a heavy Table saw instead of buying a lift plate for one? I just purchased a Craftsman

22104 and the weight of 300 lbs makes it a bit hard to just push into the corner when I am done. I was just thinking of purchasing 4 good size rubber wheel casters and bolting them on each leg. I trust the judgement of the more experienced woodworkers out in this group. This is my first major Table saw purchase and don't want to wreck it by pushing it with force.

[Mike Marlow]

What I did, and you can commonly find this approach by many a woodworker, is to bolt a set of small wheels on the rear legs. Not underneath the legs such that the saw stands on them, but up the rear side of the legs. Position them so that when the saw is resting on the floor the wheels are just touching, or maybe even just slightly off the floor. Perhaps 1/8" would be sufficient. Now you can lift the front of the saw (fab a convenient handle that will hide away if you so desire) and the wheels will contact the floor. Mine is built so that I can kick down a second set of wheels under the front and I don't have to "carry" the front of the saw as I move it. The point is that with the front of the saw lifted only a small amount, the wheels on the rear engage the floor and moving it around is a breeze. Stick with stationary wheel - don't get the swivel casters. Easy in, easy out of the saw's normal storage area. The saw will sit on its legs normally when you're using it and will be solid.

[Brad Curfman]

You should be more worried about injuring your back from lifting/moving your tablesaw around.

If you add casters, you will want them to lock, but you still might get some wiggle on your table if they all are locked. Anything that rests only on casters is not stable enough for my liking, although I've never used anything weighing 300lb+ on casters.

I bought the Ridgid table saw with their Herculift system and it is very stable when in the locked position. But that is because the legs of the tablesaw are contacting the ground in the locked position. This really helps out as locked wheels can spin.

You might want to look at getting a mobile base such as the HTC 2000 ( check Amazon ). I have one for my bandsaw and another for my jointer. They are pretty stable when locked, but if you push them hard enough they will wobble slightly. I've never made a cutting mistake while using either tool on the mobile base, and I still have 10 fingers which is probably the most important point to make.

[JimBrowninPA]

Grizzly carries ShopFox mobile bases that are, in my opinion, worth the money ... sturdy, mobile when you want them to be, stationary when you want them to be.

[John DeBoo]

[Andy]

I have the HTC2000 mobile base for my bandsaw ($49 from Amazon with free shipping) - I just put it together, and it seems to work great so far. For my bench drill press, I found (on ebay) casters that lock both the swivel and the wheel rotation, and mounted those under a cabinet to make a rolling tool cabinet/drill press base. Both systems are fairly new but work well so far, and are lots easier than trying to slide the tools around. Andy

[bdeditch]

I did notice some rollers this morning at HD that are made to replace the ones for a rigid table saw. Thats for all the advise, I think I will have to try build something to set it on.

[Lee Gordon]

I have the same saw. Mine is mounted on a Shop Fox mobile base. I have a couple of other tools on HTC bases and they work fine as well. By they time you buy 4 suitably hefty casters (2 of them of the locking variety) and dick around with mounting them, you might as well just spend the $50-70 on a good mobile base which has been engineered for this purpose.

Lee

[Toller]

All my tools are on mobil bases because I only have enough room to have one tool out at a time; well, two, the TS is semi-permanent. I have Craftsman bolt on wheels on a RAS base. They are difficult to use. I have two sets of HTC. They are easy to adjust, but difficult to move anything on. I have a Rigid under my TS. It is pretty good but I haven't seen it for sale; it came with my used saw. The best is on my Performax drum sander. I bought a set of locking wheels from Rockler for $30 and they fit in the legs. Easy to use and easy to move. If I need another mobil base I will definitely use the locking wheels; though they probably will have to go on a wood frame. They claim to hold 150 pound each (or something like that) and look like they ought to be able to do it.

No, the HTC is best; want to buy two sets lightly used?

[Charles Koester]

It might not need to much "locking".

I once asked an old (or rather, experienced) Unisaw owner about how I ought to secure my contractor's saw + mobile base combo, as I was afeard' of it rolling around while cutting. He had an interesting response:

"If it moves pushing a board through a cut, then the blade isn't sharp enough."

I found that a little wake-up to a different point of view.

[Walt Cheever]

FWIW--

I have an OLD craftsman on an extended table with the drawers full of iron stuff for other tools. Whole thing weighs around 250#. I put it on 6 swivel casters (no locks) with the intention of putting wedges under the edges to hold it in place.

Never needed the wedges. I have to get a good hold and yank to get that sucker moving. As someone else said, if the saw moves when you are pushing a board through it--you better check your blades sharps."

Walt C