Wheels

[Willypill]

Are wheels a good idea?  I've seen many people putting wheels on their cabinets.  This seems like a good idea for when you are moving it.  But when it's just setting there in it's final place, it seems like the wheels may move it when you don't want it moved.  Plus it would be lifted off the ground some, and it seems like it would look funny like that.  What's you'alls thoughts?

[USSEnterprise]

IMO, if you have a good handtruck, you don't need wheels.

[versapak]

You could always put locking wheels on there.


I personally didn't put wheels on mine. I kind of wish I would have now though. Not for the ease of movement, but so that the MDF was sitting on the floor, where my kids feel the need to spill their darn drinks.


You could skirt around the bottom, so that the cab only looks like it is raised a centimeter or 2 off of the ground, and leave the back section open, so as to access the wheel locks.


Unfortunately it doesn't make a great after thought project, because it will raise my control panel to an uncomfortable height.

[wintermute]

Some of my cabinets have wheels mounted in the back such that if you tilt the cabinet backwards, the wheels touch the ground and roll, but when the cabinet is standing upright they are off the ground.  This gives you good stability, however you may have ugly wheels showing in the back of the cab, if that bothers you.

wm

[Apollo]

I use locking castors on my home built cabs, one on each corner.

[toolaa]

I had two straight casters in the rear and two swivel lockers on the front.  After a while I realized the swivelers were wobbling with hard play.  I replaced the front swivel casters with now adjustable legs with rubber pads from Happ and I am very happy with the mobility and stability.  I think I am going to do the same thing on the Super Sprint cab.  It's about 400lbs and while I am working on it I find I need access to the rear panel often.

[Bones]

I did the same. Fixed Castors on the back and swivel on the front. The gap between floor and cab is less than 1".

I figure (when it is finished), if it moves around I can slide something under the cab which will butt up against the wheels to stop them from moving. I think the Castors with a brake are a great idea but getting to them is a problem unless you have a removable access panel in the bottom of your cab.

[versapak]

I did the same. Fixed Castors on the back and swivel on the front. The gap between floor and cab is less than 1".

I figure (when it is finished), if it moves around I can slide something under the cab which will butt up against the wheels to stop them from moving. I think the Castors with a brake are a great idea but getting to them is a problem unless you have a removable access panel in the bottom of your cab.

Yeah, that is why I mentioned having the back of the cabinet, with no cover at the bottom, so that the wheels show in the back, or you could put a hinged skirt in the back.


Mobility really wouldn't be my motivation for putting wheels on though, as mentioned, I'd just like the MDF off of the floor.

[Franco]

I used four swivel castors on mine as I was able to get them cheap and mounted them on a sunken platform inside the cab leaving about 1/2" between the floor and bottom of the cab. I just moved house this week and the castors made it so much easier to move. I thought there would be some issues with wobbling etc due to using all swivels but the weight of the 22" crt and the cab itself means that there is no wobble at all. 

[PedroSilva]

Hi...

I've put 3 wheels under the cabinet on the back side. They don't show, because they are covered by the bottom frame. When it stands still, the cab stays with the wheels touching the ground and the front of the cab also. That way she can't move. When I want to move it, I simply take the front off the ground and push or pull the cab as it stays with only the wheels touching the ground.

[Minwah]

IMO, if you have a good handtruck, you don't need wheels.

A cab with wheels can get into a space a handtruck cannot as easily tho.  My room is VERY cramped, and so wheels are very handy to have.

I have about a ~1cm gap between floor & cab.  I probably should have made it a bit more as on thick carpet cab rubs on the floor.

I planned to use 2 lockable castors...but due to things not working out as planned I have no locks.  As some people here said at the time, the cab doesn't move anyway unless you want it to due to the weight of the thing.

[Franco]

Yeah I have lockable wheels but as they are under the cab it is not possible to get to the levers to lock the wheels, whoops! Oh well like I said they still work fine. I must agree with you Minwah, I should have left a slightly bigger gap too.

If you do go for a 'sunken' base make sure it is properly braced from the top side of the sunken base that is supporting wheels as all of the weight that would be supported by the base of the cab/end of the panels, will now be trasferred to the sunken base.

Now im home I can attach a pic of my sunken base incase it helps.

[toolaa]

Those are a nice set.  My wheels were onlt 2" and I found it difficult yo roll arround on carpet.

[NoOne=NBA=]

I've got two fixed in back, and two swivel in front on my home-built.
I would have gotten it stuck in the hallway with a handtruck, or rear-only wheels.

I've got two Nichibutsu cabs that have rear-only wheels, and they are pretty nice in open spaces.
The Vindicator cab I have though is a major pain because it doesn't have ANY wheels, and the base is filled with concrete or something for stability.

[nullb0y]

im going to use 4 sunken swivel castors on my controll pannel on my showcase but the monitor section will not. the monitor will come out (tv) and the cab is the just a big brick of wood lol

[deadkenndys1105]

My cabnet doesnt have wheels.  If I had them my CP would be way to high because my CP is a little high but its not to bad.  I dont like the idea of having wheels tho.

[Spaz Monkey]

As someone who has put on wheels on the cabinet, I say that I *love* it for now.  My cab has a removeable back panel and I need to access it all the time.  It's in my garage and it would be a pain if I had to move it all the time.  It's stored about 2" away from the wall.  It's easy for me to move it when I want to.  When I'm playing, the motions are so localized, I don't have to worrry about it moving.  The only thing that sucks is that the cabinet is about 2" - 4" taller due to the wheels (can't remember what size they are).

If you do put wheels in without any framework, go buy the metal electrical box covers , one for each wheel or you can over-engineer it (like me) and buy 2.  Take the wheels and go to a metal mfg shop.  Pay $20 to get holes drilled.  [I suck at drilling and would rather toss money at the situation for someone to fix it.]  Put the cabinet on its side and drill.  My cab is flat on top and back, so I just can't lay it down and pick it up easy.  I fabricated a "stand" from 2" x 4".  I don't have any pictures, but think of those realtor "For Sale" signs. Put the long piece on top of the short on.  The long piece will hold the edge of the cabinet when on the ground so you can still access the inside. The short piece will be on the side of the cabinet.

         |
       -+-----/    (ASCII Picture)
         |     /      The diagnoal line is the ground.
         |    /
         |   /
         |  /
         | /
         |/

That's what I did...

[Edit] When you go to the metal shop, have them drill holes in the plates, not the wheels.

[mr.Curmudgeon]

I've had this idea of putting on a wheel-locking mechanism like you'd find on a safety-ladder in a Home Depot or whatever. Where you step on a foot-peddle (bar) and the feet lift up so you can move the unit, then step on the foot-bar again and it'd drop the unit down and keep it from moving again.

I figured I'd have the bar visible, but I'd hide it behind, or underneath a "regular" foot rest, so people weren't accidentally hitting it.

This mechanism would allow me to easily move the entire cabinet whenever I wanted, quickly and by myself. Without additional equipment (dolly, etc) Anyone know if you can buy this type of thing anywhere? Or what a specific name for it would be? (so I can refine my search)


mrC