#HTE

Clever, Low-Tech Way to Put Disappearing Wheels on a Very Heavy Workbench

For a good workbench, mass and weight are the rule. You want a bench beefy enough that it’s not going to move when you’re routing or hand planing workpieces. This means that few serious woodworkers will put their benches on wheels, as that makes them prone to slide and skitter (even with locking casters) when force is applied.

But sometimes you do need to move the darn thing around, and when you’re by yourself, trying to shove or drag several hundred pounds is backbreakingly impractical.

Christopher Schwarz helped fellow woodworker Megan Fitzpatrick get around this by working up the following add-on for her bench. It took him “about an hour” to hack it together, and can get the bench ready to roll in seconds:

“I’ve never seen it before, but I’m sure someone, somewhere has done it already,” Schwarz writes. “It’s based on a ‘Shortcut’ we published years ago as a way to raise and lower your workbench."You can read details of the construction here.

Designers among you: What would you do to make the wheel-board easier to flip in and out? I love the simplicity of this idea, but realize it is possible for a klutz like me to crush my foot, and I wonder what ergonomic improvement could be made.

http://www.core77.com/posts/57190/Clever-Low-Tech-Way-to-Put-Disappearing-Wheels-on-a-Very-Heavy-Workbench