I’ve got a shoe cart to which I want to add wheels. It’s long and skinny and would roll beatifully in between the wardrobe and storage shelves providing much needed shoe area. I have some old wheels on hand which don’t fit, but are perfect otherwise for the job.
Note to the men: No, I will not throw my shoes out, no, you do not understand, let’s not waste time on cultural whinging and explanations, please. Make your own thread.
So the base of the supports has four perfect holes about 1/2" deep and with circumference a little smaller than a dime. The stem of the wheels are metal, 1/4" long and with a circumference a little smaller than a pencil. (Left over from some Ikea project or other.)
So the putty, epoxy, or other product must:
stick to both metal and plastic,
fill a big gap in between,*
dry/cure in 48 hours or less
be cheap and available locally
not be too brittle for slight stress
The finished product, after loading will not weigh more than about 20 pounds, so super strength isn’t necessary, but will be rolled back and forth over carpet so can’t be too brittle.
If we were wine drinkers I’d just carve up a few corks, but no.
Thanks for any thoughts or advice!
Or work with some other filler you recommend. The first thing I tried was Gorilla brand epoxy. It didn’t cure. This may be to do with filler I had at hand which was used dryer sheets. I dipped it in the mixed epoxy and wrapped it around the wheel stems because I had no way to hold them up straight while a straight pool of epoxy dried. My thought was it would dry into one big hard lump filling the hole, but week later they are still goopy.
Can’t you just go to a hardware store and find some kind of rubber grommet or bushing that would fit snugly into the existing holes and that the caster stems would also fit snugly into. Something like one of these.
If they fit snugly enough you probably don’t have to glue them or anything.
I’d suggest you do a Google search for “caster sockets”. Except you said the stems of the wheels you have are only 1/4" long. That seems much too short to be used to push around a small cart. Can you drill larger holes, for larger sockets to fit larger casters?
Good idea, I’ll go over to Home Despot and wander a bit in the morning.
Aha! “Caster sockets” are just what I need. But they seem to be for the grip-type stems, not the screw stems. Still, it would be a lot less glue to do it that way, and if they are snug enough, I could just mush it together.
Eternal threads. I guess “stem” is the proper term rather than “shaft.”
The caster sockets you linked to aren’t threaded, but you can find ones that are. The trick will be to find ones that match the wheels you already have. It might be easier to buy both the sockets and the casters from the same vendor.
hot glue cools quickly (like within a minute) but I don’t think it’s near strong enough to do what you want here. I second the idea of going to the hardware store and browse the aisle with all those drawers and trays of fasteners and other gubbins; the bushing/grommet approach might be your best bet.
If you have any Ace hardware stores nearby, try them. they tend to have a wide variety of “stuff” in the fastener aisle.
Just my opinion, but I would do it in two steps (one of which is optional).
Fill the holes with pieces of dowel. Find a piece of dowel that fits the holes. If the dowel is slightly oversized, drill out the holes so it fits. Use wood glue and glue the pieces in so you have something solid to work with.
Find some t-nuts to fit the caster threads. (Should be readily available at any hardware store.) Drill the appropriate size hole and whack them in place with a hammer. Screw in the casters
Step 1 is optional because you can probably just install the t-nuts slightly to the side of each hole and it will work fine. All the weight will be downward, so the t-nuts don’t have to be that securely fastened to the unit.
Yes, all the weight is downward, but the OP talks about moving the cart forward and back. That introduces torque at the caster-socket joint, especially on carpeting.
T-nuts are intended to be used on the “other side” e.g. the nut and screw “sandwich” the board, and tightening the screw pulls the T-nut firm. T-nuts pull out rather easily if you screw in to them from the same side.
for something like this where you need to install a threaded insert from the same side the screw is going into, you’d want to use a flanged threaded insert.
I read you 100% and understand how t-nuts work, but that’s exactly why I pointed out that the downward force would be a factor. I have several pieces of (manufactured) furniture that use simple t-nuts for casters and legs. They work just fine. On a few occasions, I have also glued the t-nuts in, which helps a bit.
I have used threaded inserts from time to time, but they don’t work very well in particleboard and some other materials. T-nuts are easy to find and have always done the trick. The OP mentioned that the weight is only about 20 pounds and won’t be under much stress. Some of the other suggestions don’t seem nearly as practical as simple t-nuts.
Yes! This stuff is great! It’s absolutely my number one go-to when I have things I need to stick together. It molds comfortably and easily, stays in place, and hardens fast. Give it an hour, and it’s hard to the touch.
