Lift off! Add Some Sidekicks for Greater Movability

I went to the shop tonight just to check on a couple of things, change out a flickering fluorescent and deliver a couple of things and I remembered someone asking about my mobile workbenches that work as auxiliary benches to support the different aspects of my work. One of the last minute jobs tonight was to fit four new castors to my own workbench because I need to move it around more than previously. The question one person had asked me was whether you could put a workbench on castors or whether it compromised the stability of the bench. Fact is, in general anyway, mostly they do, that is unless they allow the bench to sit back down on the legs with no rubber tyres in between. Any level of flex allows negative energy to the bench user. Yesterday I ordered a four-castor set from Axminster here in the UK and true to form they arrived 24 hours later and that's with free shipping. I have to say these are the simplest of all castors to fit and raising my bench to full mobility is about four clicks and a few paces to get the action I need. The installation relies on two 2” screws per castor through the face and into the leg. In ten minutes I was out of the pit and on the track.

Pressing a simple foot or hand lever integral to the castor system raises each castor fixed to the  bench legs 10mm clear of the floor. The wheels are omni-directional and swivel according to thrust. My bench is very heavy but the bench moved fine. I will see how it goes over the next few weeks, but the whole assembly is very robust with the lever operation operating on a simply cam.

The shop always looks nice before the classes start. One of my favourite times of day is the evening before a class when the wood is milled and boxed and the benches cleared and floors swept. Order is always important and tomorrow we have a full nine-day class beginning at 9am. As I locked the shop doors in the castle and drove home the snowdrops were in full spread and the Snowdonia mountains glistened in a pink reflection as the sun settled for the evening.